Krait book 16 part 4
by slytherinsal
Summary: With the tensions of exams and the machinations of the Necromancer and followers, the run-up to the final part of the Triwizard is never going to be quiet and peaceful. But then, what Marauder likes it quiet and peaceful? Don't blame me for the Triwizard result, I'd been worrying over it and then I had a dream about it.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

David reflected that it was just as well that the OWL candidates were confined to the castle for revision over Easter; otherwise the latest game devised by Lilith might just be construed by the Ministry to be muggle baiting at best, and dark magic at worst.

It had begun with an impromptu and much truncated performance of 'Tosca' in the style of Status Quo, and had led to the challenging of those prepared to join in to sing one work or another in the style of some entirely disparate work. That Gilbert and Sullivan in the style of Queen almost worked was worrying; but the elegiac opera of Callinus Strainz in the style of Celestina Warbeck could definitely be classed as scary. And Bohemian Rhapsody in the style of ABBA had to be heard to be believed.

And not in a good way.

Still, it kept them from going into hysteria over exams. There was something more healthy about the fairly reasonable hysterical outburst over a refusal to sing Weird Sisters numbers in the style of country and western. Especially as it was only Lavender Spikenard having the hysterics, which was no real difference to usual.

Music was on the minds of the Musical Marauders in Durmstrang as well.

"I don't know what you fourth years are doing, spending the holidays in the castle, getting under the feet of those of us who have real work to do," complained Kunegunda Sternkessel. "You think you're so clever with your music, why don't you do something patriotic like write a school quidditch song?"

"You are a poor prune, Kunegunda," said Sigismund, scornfully. "How much more patriotic can we get than what we are doing in the castle?"

"Well what are you doing?" the girl demanded.

They stared.

"Blind, deaf, daft and idiotic," said Corneliu. "Has it escaped your attention that the Kaiserin asked us to sort out the third task for her, because nobody knows mazes like we do, and nobody knows the musical and art magic to operate traps in them like us?"

Kunegunda goggled.

"I don't believe the Kaiserin would get little kids like you to do that," she said, scornfully.

"Calling the lie on us, Kunegunda? Them's fighting words," said Sigismund. "Are you really asking to duel me?"

Kunegunda paled.

"I apologise, Toth," she said stiffly. "It seemed odd."

"Maybe it seemed odd to you that we also saved your sorry arse along with the rest when the school had to be evacuated over the dragon's heart fumes incident," said Sigismund, coldly. "If I'd known you didn't believe in our warming charms and protective spells I'd have asked you to leave our maze and do your own best to survive outside in a nightdress in the middle of winter in the snow."

"I … Well, you seem to know about mazes," said Kunegunda, crossly. "But a quidditch song would be nice."

"Oh, we have that in hand," said Zoltan, airily.

Zoltan was rounded on when the Musical Marauders had got rid of Kunegunda.

"We 'have that in hand' in what respect?" demanded Beremud.

"I was going to steal a muggle song and just remove the word 'panzer' which is a muggle military thing, and put in 'bessen', 'broom' instead," said Zoltan. "It's a stirring tune and words."

"Sing," said Sigismund.

Zoltan sang.

" _Ob's stürmt oder schneit,  
Ob die Sonne uns lacht,  
Der Tag glühend heiss  
Oder eiskalt die Nacht.  
Bestaubt sind die Gesichter,  
Doch froh ist unser Sinn,  
Ja, unser Sinn;  
Es braust unser Bessen  
Im Sturmwind dahin."_ _1_

"It's pretty good," said Sigismund. "Sing it over a few times, brother, and we'll soon pick it up."

Zoltan did so, and by the third repetition, the others had joined in.

They liked it so much they marched into supper singing it. The were followed by the feral desk, marching as well as it might, and thumping its lid in time.

"I take it we have a new quidditch anthem," said Agata Bacso, who had become used to sudden music in the school. "You may copy out the words once each so that a copy is available to each year, and the sixth will have to share a copy, and we shall learn that before the next quidditch match. A pity that quidditch is curtailed for the duration of the Triwizard."

"Nothing to stop the school singing it to support us for the Triwizard, Madam Bacso," said Zyrillis, rising and bowing. "Indeed, I think that the Triwizard team should arrive in formation on brooms, if Madam Schwefel will help us with the geomancy required, singing it. It's a nice psychological advantage."

"Almost a declaration of war, but I like it," said Agata. "The pests and I will have travelled ahead to set up the maze, so they may stay to see your arrival."

Sigismund rose to bow, and click his heels punctiliously to thank her for this concession.

The exams would take place before they did their bit, a new rule which had been so much appreciated by previous years' contestants when it had been introduced to permit Jade Snape to be old enough to have had her 17th birthday before the end of the competition, and one that had been argued into becoming a new tradition.

Meanwhile, Valda was not at school for the holidays, but she was busy. She was meeting her half siblings and Fraulein Braun, the mother of three of them, as all of them had been invited to stay with Adelard. Adelard had his own house, which was not large by the standard of his own family, but which seemed palatial to Fraulein Braun, an undistinguished witch of undistinguished family, who had considered being mistress to Herr Schutztab to be a step up. Schutztab's cruelty had changed her mind, and she lived under Adelard's protection now, in a quiet wizarding street in Berlin. Adelard had invited her, her children, his sister-in-law and her children, and Valda's other half-sibling, Konrad, who was one eighth goblin. As Fraulein Braun had no idea that one of the children at the Easter house party was Valda's other half brother, she did not shrink from Konrad, whose goblin features were barely noticeable. He was of an age with Fraulein Braun's youngest child, Sigeric, and both were toddlers. Adelard's idea was to make sure they were best of friends before troubling either with the news that they were related, and introduced Valda's old goblin nurse, who had Konrad in her care, as a family retainer to help with the little ones. Swentha, the nurse, helped out happily with the Loënzahn children as well, and the impression that Konrad was one of Stephanie Loënzahn's children was not one that Adelard went out of his way to discourage. Now he was officially a Marauder, it behoved him to fight racism, and Adelard was nothing if not thorough.

Valda had made her peace with Swentha, who had been well aware that Valda's father had been playing away and probably sought someone who could give him legitimate sons as well.

There was a briefly uncomfortable moment when Fraulein Trudi Braun tried to give orders to Wennie, now an unofficial scholar at Durmstrang, and Wennie told her,

"You are not my family, and you do not give me orders. If you ask nicely I will help you, because I like to please Valda and she wants her siblings to be happy. But you are not to give orders to any of the elves."

Trudi Braun had been furious; elves were about the only beings she had the chance to look down on, and being sneered at for not being of an elf-owning class was not something she could easily stomach. It may be said that the other elves that Valda had freed also sneered, even more openly than Wennie.

"What about us?" asked Dorothea, the oldest of Trudi's children.

"Since Valda has freed us all, we are not subject to orders, Miss Dorothea, but we will take courteously phrased requests as something close," said Wennie.

Dorothea digested this.

"I don't know anything about elves," she said.

"Then it is time you learned, Miss Dorothea, because the cursing of elves was a subtle curse of humans too," said Wennie, earnestly.

"How?" asked Dorothea.

"Herr Adelard is better at explaining," said Wennie.

"You're doing just fine, Wennie," said Adelard.

Wennie sighed. She had a feeling he was going to say something like that.

"Long ago, some wicked members of the fey, who are mostly dark creatures, put a curse in humans to make their magic fail sometimes, so squibs were made, and while wizards were worrying about this, offered them slaves. The slaves were a tribe of fey who didn't want to interfere with humans, who the high fey wanted to punish; and they made us have these silly little shapes, and to be cursed to obey. Some people recently broke the part of the curse that used to make us punish ourselves for even thinking disloyal thoughts, which means the high fey can't feed on our pain to make them stronger any more."

"You mean that ordering elves to punish themselves made dark creatures stronger?" asked Trudi, sharply. She had been considering ordering Wennie to punish herself.

"That's right, Fraulein Braun," said Adelard. "Fey are not all dark, but the ones who made that curse are very dark indeed. In former times, they were called demons. The lesser members of such are dementors and the like."

Trudi paled. She had heard of dementors, and if they were lesser fey, the high fey must be very nasty!

"I see," said Dorothea. "Then it is wise for elves to be free and not to obey."

"Yes," agreed Wennie.

"You'll do," said Valda, who had been assessing Dorothea. "Are you looking forward to going to school?"

"Yes, but I'm a bit scared," said Dorothea. "But I want to learn. I don't want to be someone's servant, or do piece work for a tailor, I want to know things."

"I'll fix you up to fag for someone decent, like Bronislava Frolika," said Valda. "Who you fag for is important; it's who can take care of you and do you good."

"But that is not a German name; can non-Germans be as good for me?" asked Dorothea.

"That's one of the silly attitudes of Odessa we need to stamp out," said Valda. "Besides, Broni is a Marauder, and Marauders are the works. They are leaders in the school, and if you ask me she has every chance of being head girl or deputy head when she is in the upper sixth. It will be her and Sigismund I bet."

"I wouldn't put money against that," said Adelard. "Zyrillis will be head boy in the coming year, I suspect, and probably Wencelada as deputy. Why one of the Musical Marauders, not one of Leva, Sofie or Elfleda, Valda?"

"Because I know the Musical Marauders better than the Jade Fag Marauders," said Valda, "And though they are only going to be in the fifth, fags are supposed to help out people who are doing exams, and if Dorothea wants to learn more about everything, do you know a group of Marauders who do more learning? Didn't they start studying both music in magic and art in magic in their spare time? And they are teaching Wennie and me to do art and pattern magic. And if Dorothea aspires to Maraud, they can show her more than anyone."

"What is this Marauding?" asked Dorothea, shyly. "It sounds a bit … loud."

"Marauders can be, but they can be quietly stubborn too," said Valda, with the convinced air of the converted. "I am now a Marauder. It is to stand up as a group against bullies, and look after the weak and oppressed and fight dark wizards. It's a lifetime commitment, not a gang, and you are as brothers and sisters to each other. Well, except the ones who marry each other," she flushed slightly, glancing at Adelard.

"I thought a low-born like me was going to be one of the weak and oppressed," said Dorothea.

"Not if you get your retaliation in, not quite first, but as soon as possible," said Valda. "Elimitza Theodrakis will be in your year, and her brother is a Marauder in the group I belong to, so I hope he will persuade her to Maraud, and you can work together."

"The sister of one of the Prince Peak Marauders has chosen Durmstrang too," said Adelard. "Falk Kesselring is friendly with the Ferret's brother-in-law and his ward too, and being horsy went to Prince Peak, but I hear the Kaiserin – that's the Headmistress, Frau Bacsó to you, young Dorothea – is starting stables."

"I think she reckons the distraction will be less than people riding the feral desk," chuckled Valda, her eyes sparkling with the recollection of the 'gymkhana'.

"I wish I'd been there to see it," said Adelard. "Anyway, Heloise Kesselring will be starting too, and I bet she's up for Marauding. Herr Von Kesselring doesn't bring his children up not to do their duty, and Ritter is teaching in the Free School."

"Goodness, are the Kesselrings planning on infiltrating every school, then?" asked Valda. Adelard laughed.

"Oh, I am glad you found your sense of humour, Valda!" he said. "I think that's what Snapes do, but then, Ritter is very close to Jade."

"I don't know who any of these people are," said Dorothea.

"Don't worry; you will," said Adelard. "Jade, or the Baronin Nefrita Von und zu Strang und Luytens is one of the people who makes Germany work. The Ferret, or Herzog Eduard Von Frettchen, who is a governor of Durmstrang and the Free School, is another."

"Does he then consider goblins worth educating?" asked Trudi, who had been listening, and who had been thoroughly ticked off by Adelard for rejecting the care of Konrad.

As she had Konrad and her younger son, Sigeric, on her lap, it made a mockery of her attitudes, had she but known it.

"Yes, he does; the ward who is a friend of Falk Kesselring, whose grandfather is on the Council, is a goblin," said Adelard. "Surely you have seen how well gobins have performed in the Triwizard; it is easy to say that goblins could pass exams by learning by rote, but you can't learn by rote a way to succeed in even completing the tasks at the Triwizard. Trust me, I might manage to beat the Hellibore boy, and possibly the lad from the London school, and give the Beauxbatons boy a run for his money, but I couldn't compete with Zajala Malfoy-Tobak, or Yrdl Breuer."

"What about Hallow?" asked Valda.

"Oh, Hallow is better than she looks, a little bird told me," said Adelard. "She dislikes Pony-boy as much as anyone else does. I do hope he goes to the French gaol for a very long time. Vanishing someone is foul," and he smiled at Wennie.

"And worse for a squib," squeaked Wennie.

Dorthea sighed. Her new guardian, who said he was going to be her brother-in-law, knew so many very important people. It was good, of course, but it was also a little scary!

Valda smiled at her sister.

"It'll be fine," she told her. "Just make sure you're ready to stand for fair play for everyone, and you won't go wrong."

Dorothea smiled back, a little tremulously, and nodded.

The four Gardiner kids sat open mouthed in their father's dining room as he addressed them, shocked to the core.

"And I have no intention of letting you go to some stupid school in the godforsaken wilds of Scotland. I've enrolled you all in the local school, which has enough security to stop your mother trying to kidnap you."

The four Gardiner children stared at each other aghast.

"In England, we go to a Public School, which is a kind of private school, not state education," Adam tried to keep his temper. "It's run by governors, and Lucius is one of them."

"And what has your mother been up to, to afford to send you to private school? I don't want my children to be laughed at for being the children of someone sleeping about with her stuck up and feeble-looking employer just to get into a private school."

"You take that back! It's the perks of Lucius' employees to have their kids go to the school. We get a much better education there than in your stupid local school, so you can't use the argument that you have our welfare in mind."

"Don't take that tone with me! How can anyone take seriously a school recommended by a man with a poncey name like Lucius?" sneered their father. "My mind is made up, and it's no good whining about it."

"You can't do this," said Andy. "Mom has custody of us."

"Possession is nine tenths of the law," Roger shrugged. "Go to your rooms; I don't want to hear another word."

Ace was the first to apparate in to Adam's room, with a faint 'tic'.

"Amy Charlotte, they'll break your wand!" Adam was fearful.

"Don't be a poor prune; this was why we were blooded," said Ace.

"I thought it was so other people could find us," said Adam.

"Well, yes, but also we can use elf-style apparation so it doesn't register," said Ace, patiently. "And you in with Lils and Sextus!"

"Dad makes my brain switch off," admitted Adam. Quickly he pulsed the other two, and they apparated in, Amanda stumbling, and Andy sitting down on the bed rather quickly. Adam looked hard at Ace. She shrugged.

"Of course I've been practising, for just such an emergency," she said.

"I don't think I can apparate clear to England," said Andy.

"Nor me," said Adam. "We need… oh."

A selection of Snapes and Sol deMalfoy turned up, making three elves amongst them with Sevvy and Iris as well as Sol.

"We Snapes do apparating best," said Iris, "so we hit the Malfoys and sundries and they are chanting up a circle to land in."

"And we'll chant up the circle to, as it were, push," said Richard.

"And nobody has yet put up a muffliatus spell or locked the door," said Lilith.

"No wands," said Adam. "Oh, I suppose it wouldn't show if we cast wandlessly."

"Where have your brains gone wandering, you baboon?" asked Lilith.

"I find them difficult put in gear when our father is haranguing," admitted Adam. "Amy Charlotte will tell you, I've been so busy not following my inclinations to turn him into a fluffy white rabbit that I can't think straight."

"Not very original, but as he breeds like a rabbit, or at least collects stepchildren like one, and his brains aren't much better, I suppose it's reasonable," said Lilith.

"And how many children does your father have?" asked Andy.

"Heaps," said Lilith equably. "All right, that was unduly snide, but we have established fairly succinctly on previous occasions that the sperm bank who used to be married to your mother is a seriously inadequate parent, terminally moronic and about as much use as a hat full of doxy droppings."

"I love her descent from erudite and prolixic description to the coarse," murmured Adam.

"Brain returning to full function; that was almost worthy of Sextus," approved Lilith. "Red Five, standing by."

"Red Three, standing by," said Adam, obediently, taking the hand of Amanda on one side and Ace on the other. The circle chanted, and with a smooth transition that was in no way like side-along apparating, they merged with the landscape of a wet bank holiday weekend outside Malfoy Manor, in a circle of other Marauders and supporters.

"Well, get a move on," said Gennar. "Lilith spends all her time talking at people, which is why you took so long, and Dad has hidden hundreds of chocolate eggs in the garden, and if you want to find any, you'd better get looking."

It was a little anticlimactic, but Adam for one preferred anticlimactic to dramatic.

1 In rain, storm or snow or in sun's laughing light,  
In day's scorching heat or in bitter cold night,  
Our faces covered with the dust  
But hearts with joy are filled (Yes, joy are filled),  
Our brooms just like whirlwinds advance in the field.

 _this was the translation I liked best for keeping the spirit of the song, thanks to ccc31807. Iif you want direct translations and don't know the tune, google Panzerleid. It's the one from 'Battle of the Bulge'._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It has to be said that Severus used the Easter Holidays to expedite the brewing of a ticklish little potion, and Lucius duly delivered it to Roger, just as he was alerting police, social workers, his lawyer and anyone else he thought might be interested that his children had vanished.

It took very little effort to make a cup of coffee, the muggle way, using a borrowed invisibility cloak, and once a cup of coffee was by Roger's hand, he was likely to drink it without thinking where it had come from. Lucius admitted to himself that this was probably something he would do too, and made a mental note to be more paranoid. His enemies were probably more effective than any that the feckless idiot called Roger had accrued. Those who were still alive, anyway.

Once Roger had drunk the coffee, he became very loquacious. Lucius was to describe it later to Michelle by misquoting Asterix, that he had loquaced as nobody had ever loquaced before.

Lucius watched long enough to satisfy his schardenfreude, have enough of a report to have Michelle amused by it, and make sure that the authorities Roger was talking to decided that he was a nut job, ruled that he was never to see the children of his ex wife again, and that he was not fit to be around children, period. Lucius left when the men in white coats arrived.

Severus really was very good.

The Durak formerly known as Dolokhov went on trial in France. Mandragora had restored him, and none of the youngsters from the Triwizard were required to give evidence as enough adults had seen and heard what he had done. This was disappointing to some, and a relief to others.

The main point of satisfaction was that mandragora had not cured the curse on his feet or ears; the chanting had been too competent to be countered by a potion generally reckoned able to handle minor curses.

"Golapott," said Lilith. "Mandragora isn't more many headed and mutable than we are. It needed to be brewed with an added chant at least as effective as ours."

"If you say so, half-pint," said Sextus, who wished he had been a part of it.

"I do say so," said Lilith. "It's because of the extrinsic alteration by concentrated willpower. The willpower of an opposed potion has to equal or exceed the willpower of the chanted curse, which is why chanting is the works, but that anything daddy brews is probably superior to most people's potion-poking."

"Not a skill snob at all then," grinned Sextus.

"I know how _good_ Daddy is," said Lilith, shrugging. "He has a will of iron. Everyone sees Lucius being the posey git he is, and scaring people who he doesn't like into needing new underwear, and they forget that Daddy is actually the one who threw off the yoke of Voldemort without having to be dragged kicking and screaming into the realisation that following the turbidly moronic little herpezombie was dead stupid."

"You called him what?"

"Herpezombie. I thought it was quite a good word to coin; he was semi undead and semi snake. Actually," she added critically, "Herpetology is the study of all reptiles and amphibia. So I suppose he should be a squamozombie."

"Squamous, scaly," nodded Sextus. "I see where you were coming from, though, half-pint, herpes is a muggle disease and it isn't very nice."

"There was that somewhere inside my head," admitted Lilith. "However, for accuracy, Squamozombie will have to be the descriptor of choice."

"Well, whatever you call him, he's dead and can't sue," said Sextus.

Agata Bacsó had written a letter of resignation to the governors, effective from the end of the year, and recommended Attila Nagy as her choice of replacement.

The governors turned up _en masse_ to ask why.

Agata waved her hand airily.

"That silly little girl and her lies about Saxtred gave me ideas; so I'm going to marry him. I don't think the parents would be terribly happy about it, so I'm going to take over the state orphanage in Hungary instead, and run it with him."

"Blood and thunder!" exclaimed Von Teufel.

"To hell with the parents," said Viktor Krumm. "You are doing a good job here, Agata, they will have to adapt to it."

"If the orphanage in Hungary wasn't so dire, I might let myself be talked round, Viktor, but it is, and I've had urges to interfere for a while," said Agata. "Whether Zyrillis wins the Triwizard or not, I am very proud of him, and I will be pleased to leave on a high note. Attila is very capable."

"He is," said Von Frettchen, "And I fear you are right about the parents. They would not like it much."

"One could argue that Goblins are also pure bred as they don't have a drop of muggle blood," said Viktor, with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

"Hush," said Agata. "It's bad enough getting them to accept children with only 4 generations of proven wizarding blood, don't go getting that question raised."

"Sorry, Frau Kaiserin," said Viktor.

"Oh well," said Von Frettchen, "You were holding apart from Marauding while you were headmistress; I think you and your husband should join. It will protect you."

"What's this?" demanded Von Teufel.

"You don't want to know," said Von Frettchen.

Von Teufel grunted.

"Probably not," he agreed.

Agata was taken aback.

"I … I had not considered it," she said.

"Consider it now," said Von Frettchen.

Agata bowed her head.

She had avoided joining the blood pact more out of fear than to stand aloof, though it was the excuse she had made. But … it would draw her closer to her son. And it would mean any siblings he had would be protected by being born into it.

Von Frettchen remained when the others had gone.

"No time like the present," he suggested.

"I … very well," said Agata, "but give me time to explain to Saxdred."

"We just did," Sigismund and his friends walked into the study, with a bemused looking Saxdred. "Really, mother, the Ferret pulsed us, what else were we to do?"

"Mein leibling, if it will help us to help the children, and protect our children as Sigismund says, what choice do we have?" said Saxdred.

Other blooded started drifting in, those of Durmstrang who were staying for exams, and the blooded on the staff, and with a sharp TAC Severus and Jade joined them.

"I thought it might be as well to have someone with key blood from other people," murmured Severus.

"And I've been wanting to bring you in for a long while," said Jade.

It may be said that shortly, Agata and Saxdred were looking about their new blood siblings with amazed wonder, as they realised how many and how disparate were their many kin. And Agata finally understood how so many of the marauders apparated without any regard for anti-apparating zones.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" said Eve. "And you suddenly realise that Severus isn't scary after all."

Agata flushed.

"It's not so much that, but that he's so … intense," she said, looking apologetically at Severus.

"Meh, as Krait would say, somebody has to be," said Severus.

"And … yes and I understand the serious truth behind that seemingly flippant comment," said Agata. "I will not fear to tackle any problem now. I … I wish I had done it years ago."

"So did I," said Eve, dryly.

"Agata, you, and Eve, and Eduard and several others are the more special for having been enemies who have become family," said Severus, simply.

"And now I even understand Hallow a bit better," said Agata.

"And that is a victory for her as well as for the rest of us," said Severus.

How quiet! How peaceful! Thought Engelbert Hellibore, unaware that he echoed the thoughts of Bugs Bunny before becoming embroiled in a feud between the cartoon versions of Hatfields and McCoys. He really could not understand why some of the schools should keep their exam students over the Easter break. He had heard it variously said that it was to encourage them to revise, or, from Severus, to prevent them from revising too much. His students rarely needed to be prevented from doing any extra work. Hellibore wondered whether they needed holiday revision supervision, and mentally shrugged.

Those who wanted to work, like the Mordaunt children, would do so whether they were encouraged to do so or not, and he was losing the younger two to Prince Peak in any case. Good of them to stay until their brother had finished his part in the Triwizard. And that would be the pattern for the future; those who wanted to work would go to Prince Peak, and those who wanted to rub shoulders with others of their own class and prejudice would come to him. And he had chosen to take that path, so he could not gripe about losing the brightest pests in the school. Well, Gypsophila Grant was a hardworking and clever child; though she might manage to work on her parents to transfer as well.

Oh well, if not, he would have a female elf as a chaperone and give her extra coaching himself, if she wanted, and get Miles Grant to do so too, as a favour to his little cousin.

Severus was doing his usual holiday assignments of climbing mountains, visiting gasthofs, and having fun between rigidly defined periods of revision. It had been working well so far, as had holding quizzes so the children could find out what they did not know. His children and young adults were sensible and aware of their bodily needs, a far cry from some of those he had known in Hogwarts. Of course, Dumbledore had nothing with which to compare the lackadaisical methods of Armando Dippett, and in many ways he was too rarefied an academic to consider the needs of growing minds and bodies. It had always been done that way, there had always been exam hysteria, this was normal. Severus laughed ruefully. Most people comparing him and Dumbledore would declare that he was the more academic of the two. And in a way, he was. But then, Severus knew that he loved learning for its own sake, and now that he understood the thrill of teaching, he wanted to impart that, and to pass on knowledge to minds fit and eager to receive it. Dumbledore was, and had always been, just that little bit too power-hungry, and out for academic prizes more than for the learning. It had taught him a lot along the way, but it had not taught him how to nurture. In many ways, Dumbledore was still a teenage wizard, able to enter into the feelings of those who wanted mischief, but unaware how to channel it as safely as possible. Severus laughed, and sighed. Dumbledore was a father figure for him, and more so than his own father had ever been, but sometimes it seemed that he had grown up, and Dumbledore had not. Which was not to say that Severus did not enjoy the mischief of the lower school, or of his own children, but he had to admit to a smug satisfaction that his own trainees thought through whether or not their mischief would hurt anyone or not. David would have Hogwarts well in hand, however, and would doubtless prevent untoward cramming.

David did have Hogwarts well in hand. At least he did not have Wilfrid Trimmer in an exam year this year, and when the boy was in the upper sixth next year, David had every intention of isolating him, without books, in the hospital wing if he tried on any interrogations about revision, on the grounds that he was plainly suffering from nervous exhaustion to behave so unreasonably. And David had no fears for his high fliers, which were Sextus and Lilith. Sextus was 'only' taking nine OWLs, having done five the previous year, and so had time to study towards four NEWTs which he would be taking in the following year. And Lilith was having what she described as 'a breeze of a year', taking just eight OWLs and one NEWT, the which was in music, which Lilith could have taught quite adequately for several years. The following year would see her having completed all the OWLs that currently existed, and all but four of the NEWTs available, and how to occupy her mind when only studying four NEWTs in her theoretical upper sixth year, when she would not even be an adult for another year, was a worry to worry about when that problem arose. Original research would probably do nicely. Or she could go to Durmstrang for two years. After all, David, who had no suspicions that Agata was planning to leave, had every expectation that Agata could control the volatile little girl, who was also likely to give respect to someone her adored sister Jade gave respect to.

Sextus would doubtless do a couple of years post graduate in Prince Peak, and that was actually be another possibility for Lilith, who would then be mature enough to handle having her father as headmaster. David chuckled. He had just had a vision of Lilith's face if anyone suggested sending her for a year or two to Beauxbatons.

Jade was, like David, a disciple of her father, and she and Wulf made sure that their pupils studied in designated study times, and not outside of them. As most of her students were new to the idea of education, they did not question this; for those who had transferred from small schools, the idea of boarding and studying at all in the holidays in a structured way was new too. Most had revised desultorily, but had been expected to participate in family life too, and hence had not got time to work too hard. None of them had parents who had ridiculous expectations of them.

Jade was very pleased with her students. From nothing, most of the top year had risen to take what she considered to be an acceptable level of qualifications, only Ktell taking fewer than three ZHs. Ktell was taking an extra three ZPs to go with the ZAP and ZP in dark arts he had gained two years before, having decided to take a full two years to learn as much as he could about chanting, arithmancy and potions. Ktell had a job waiting for him when he left school, as assistant to the cursebreaker Jaromir Frolik. Ktell was shrewd rather than clever, and he knew his limitations, though he was hard working enough to want to pursue his one ZP to the higher qualification, and convert some of his ZAP subjects to ZP.

Jade was even pleased with the one student who had left as soon as he had earned the right to carry a wand, Lazek gan Szork, who was hoping to be taken into a full partnership with the scrap dealer he worked for. Lazek had talked very fast to be permitted a licence at the dealership to sell muggle items converted for use with magic, and had then written to Jade and Wulf to find out how to do this safely! Jade had been misusing muggle items since she was about eight, and was able to do this easily. And Lazek was proud that his younger siblings would be true scholars.

Those who were taking ZP this year would have more qualifications than those currently in the upper sixth, except Martina Balzar, whose magic was decidedly poor, but she was at least human and could carry a wand as of right, and she had every chance of passing the ZAP well enough. And Jade had decided to put her in for the Quidditch OWL as well, as that she had every chance of passing well. As indeed did Lehrt gan Sittig, who would need three ZPs as he would be unlikely to pass the potions component of a ZAP. Lehrt was, however, sitting seven ZPs in addition to the quidditch OWL, and preferred a wide knowledge base to high marks. Jade thought he would probably pass all but the potions where his classwork scored between P and T, and usually at the lower end. Zaly Czerny preferred to get higher marks on fewer subjects and was taking six ZPs; he could take more, if he so desired, when he transferred with his friend Grelleg to Prince Peak next year. Grelleg had a quidditch scholarship, and he and Zaly were both Marauders, so Severus had made no demur about taking them both for the sixth form. Grelleg would also take the OWL in quidditch, and had ambitions to play for a while and then become either a coach or an official. Martina hoped to marry before she was dropped from a team, a lovely girl but not what one might call academic.

The whole year were not what Jade really considered to be academic, but when one considered how well they had done to catch up five years in two years of education, they were doing very well indeed.

Desolina Uccello had borrowed Pharamond and friends to strengthen the anti-hysteria line, and to renew the temporally decayed age line, to prevent illicit trips out of the castle, with a twist to permit exit of anyone under nineteen if accompanied by an adult.

Olympe Maxime, after years of the best _laissez faire_ that any Frenchwoman could manage, was also cracking down, and the ELF and ELM students found themselves regimented into studying at arranged times, and their books locked away between those times. She had few worries about her _terminale_ class, who were led by Pharamond, and were mostly level headed, but those of the _seconde_ who were taking ELM were a mixed bag. Philomène was a star pupil, which was just as well, for the first ever part goblin in the school, so long as she was not sabotaged by Guillemete Araignée, who was spiteful, or Adriana Galbeni, whose sole reason for transferring from a dame school in her native Romania had been to enter the Triwizard. Adriana was a year older than the others taking ELMs but it could not be helped: she was, after all, not as good as she had believed, and was having trouble keeping up with the classwork in any subjects bar herbology, potions, and defence against the dark arts, which subjects she fortunately excelled at. Adriana had not stood a chance of being chosen by the goblet of fire, but had obstinately put her name in anyway. It had been, reflected Olympe, a mistake to take her, but one hesitated to turn down someone willing, as it seemed, for more of an education. Darryl Zabini had waxed English and wordy on the subject of dippy girls wanting to inflict their dippiness on others because the Triwizard was their destiny. Adriana had settled down perforce, because she had little choice in the matter, but she was never going to be a luminary of the school.

Well, there were those who would, and Philomène was one of them, and if she did marry Pharamond, she would be a good symbol of the school in social life. Olympe was well aware that for most French, the practicalities of who was likely to be leaders of society were those born to, or married to, those of pure bred good families, not those who were academic high flyers.

It was the way life worked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

"Papa said I should come to you, er, Severus," said Pierre Labellette. "My brother and I have been working on getting close to Le Roi Soleil, and yes, I know it's pretentious but I have to think of him in those terms or I might slip up."

"Understood," said Severus. "He is pretentious, and needs the boost or he wouldn't have to have titles. People who know exactly who they are and what they stand for don't need them."

"Darryl Zabini says you are the greatest wizard since Merlin," said Pierre, with great respect. "Yet you ask me to call you just 'Severus', and that tells me much, now my head is free from compulsions."

Severus smiled a thin smile.

"Darryl may be biased," he said. "I may be the most efficient wizard since Merlin; my wives, especially Krait, make a fetish of efficiency. It seems to breed true in my daughters too, including the adopted ones. My son SevNev however, who is ten, informs me that efficiency is the best way to be lazy, as you don't spend as much energy, er, faffing about. I take it, however, that you have news you wish to impart and wish I wouldn't witter on about my family?"

"I think your observations on your family, and evident love of them is also revealing, and I think you showed me the family man in order to draw a point of closeness between yourself and the Labellette family," said Pierre.

Severus sat up straighter.

" _Well_ now!" he said. "I'm not often caught out in my manipulations of people, so I give you due respect for it. I shall enjoy working with a perspicacious young man."

"Thank you. I am quite observant. I thought you might like to pass on to the All Highest's cousins that he is still green, and that mandragora has not cured it."

"It won't, unless it is brewed by a wizard or witch with a willpower equalling or exceeding that of the combined willpowers of Emil and Cecile," said Severus. "Moreover they used the power of arithmancy, so even if it was brewed by someone of strong will, without the addition of some stirring to counteract the arithmancy it still might not work."

"Like Golapott? And it was then deliberate, not a side effect of a failure to cast the killing curse, as the Sun King believes? He has seen, he said, a similar effect in a corridor curse, but as this has not worn off with time, or been able to be dispelled with _finite incantatum_ that there must be more to it, and that the silly childish spell was somehow powered with the intent to kill."

"Oh it was deliberate and no intent to kill; the spell is Avocado Kadavra that corridor curse, and it has a similar pattern to the killing curse. We used it to develop counters. The kids who put it on him are just better at ritual than Achille. As to breaking it, it is just like Golapott, and the theory is from Lilith, who delights in such things. She floo'd me to tell me it was why the Durak is still Pony Boy and doesn't have Dolokhov's legs back. It made perfect sense when I'd thought it through. Lilith has these leaps of imagination. I'm very proud of her."

"I can see why. He will spend much time in Le Chateau Forte et Dure*. It's quite an impressive pile of stones."

"I hope so. I suspect efforts will be made to get him out, as a matter of principle, but will the Russian supremacists be talking to Achille?"

"I'm not sure. Herr Tiefelnacht has urged him to combine."

"Ah, we have a name, then, for the putative Odessa leftover. Yes, Tiefelnacht was one who disappeared. It does not surprise me."

"I was shocked when I realised he was pulling the strings, but I pretend not to notice, as I should not if I was under complulsion. We do not need Germans telling us how to live in France."

"Quite so, Pierre. So, Achille is still green, and that, I fancy, might make him wonder if the Russian ritual magic can reverse it. And then he looks at Dolokhov on trial and realises nobody has reversed his curses?"

"This is what he is debating with himself; whether Dolokhov was left with the curses as a punishment for some disobedience or failure, or whether the vaunted Russian ritual can indeed reverse it."

"It can, if they were only flexible enough to figure it out. Aglaia Hallow worked it out, and discussed it with me, and she is quite correct. She did not like him, however, and so has no inclination to try."

"It is that she is English, perhaps, and so more flexible."

Severus shrugged.

"I would not necessarily dispute that. We are flexible. It does not mean that those who are not English may not be flexible; Durmstrang has improved out of all recognition now that it has learned flexibility."

"Yes, my sister is now quite happy there, and has friends," said Pierre, "and I am glad. However, I am not sure that even if the Sun King wishes to speak to the Russians, whether the Russians will want to talk to the Sun King."

"I think you have it in a nutshell," said Severus. "And I think that neither the Meerkat formerly known as Lord FlexiJerkoff nor Prince Alexandr, the grand Necromancer of Russia, will consider Achille to be worth bothering with."

"You English and your transfigurations are formidable!"

"Now that one is a Malfoy thing," smiled Severus. "If you can scare Achille by talking about the Necromancer, and how he's not that troubled if his minions are alive or undead, we might get rid of Achille as an irritant as he pursues the Book of Thoth."

"It is something that consumes his mind, but he will not travel while he is green."

Severus sighed.

"Then I suppose I shall have to cure him by applying my excessively high will to the modification of mandragora with a little restorative potion of my own. It really is not as easy to do curse breaking by proxy, but I fancy I am capable. How did you plan to put it to him that this would work?"

"I planned to tell him I had come to see you as a famed curse breaker and potioneer, and told you a story about a family member who has been afflicted," said Pierre. "I have spoken to you of my sister who has been afflicted, though not in the same way. I have found that one might lie without lying by making two unconnected statements and permitting the one listening to tie them together for himself."

"It's a technique I have also used," said Severus. "My dear boy, I hope you and your brother, if he is as good, will spend some time in post, er, ELF research here at the Horn, you have much to add."

"It would be a privilege, but I want to take down the All Highest first," said Pierre. "Luc is quieter than I, but I fancy a deeper thinker."

"I look forward to many long conversations," said Severus, happily.

Pierre departed some hours later with a phial, after having become a convert to Austrian confectionary.

Wilga, or rather, Ekaterina Kirsch, had the Easter of her life. The Kirsches were kindly parents, and made sure that their three adoptive daughters and their own younger daughter all had attention, and much in the way of Easter confectionary. Krystal was staying at school, of course, being of the exam year, but they all met up at the Easter Riding Meet, as Jade ruthlessly took her exam students on days out. They met up with Prince Peak counterparts as well, and proceeded to sweep the board between the schools. Katti was not horsy herself, but cheered on her new sisters, as did Emese and Elfrieda.

"Elfrieda likes horses, but I'm not that keen," Emese confided. "I will try to learn, for our new family, but I can't see myself competing, though Elfrieda hopes to. What about you, er, Katti?"

"I don't like horses and they scare me," said Katti.

"I'm not surprised, they are very big," said Emese. "You are even smaller than we who are but quarter goblin; it cannot be easy."

"I hadn't thought of that," said Katti. "I suppose it makes me less of a coward."

"You are not a coward to have faced so much," said Emese.

"Nothing to what you have faced," said Katti. "My … no, not my father, that is Herr Kirsch, the creature who sired me is horrid. And I never realised. I … I am sorry I was horrid."

"How could you understand if you had not been brought up well?" Emese hugged the younger girl. "At least Elfrieda and I had memories of really loving parents. The Kirsches are very like them."

"I have a lot to learn about parents," said Katti.

There was more to look forward to, as Krystal and her boyfriend Friederich were staying overnight, as were the other riders, for a two day meet, and the Blooded amongst them would be bringing in Emese and Elfrieda. Jade explained matters to the two young adoptees, and found them keen to Maraud as well as to be bound by blood to the Kirsch family; and on due consideration, Jade also spoke to the Kirsch parents, as they might face prejudice and worse for adopting a goblin and part goblins. Once presented with the story of the blood pact, Herr and Frau Kirsch were happy to join anything that might help protect their little girls!

The blooding was a matter of much rejoicing, and if the family were a little tardy in getting up next morning, it was not as though it was far to travel to the Pfarkirschen magical meet to watch the adults compete!

It may be said that Biirta was stolen a little bit by Narcissa, though the Malfoys paused to congratulate the Kirsches on joining the family, as Narcissa put it. That so eminent a wizarding family was a part of the Blood Group was almost a shock! It certainly was to Katti. As Wilga she would have gone out of her way to suck up to the Malfoys, but now she felt rather shy, until Herr Lucius Malfoy ruffled her hair and said,

"You and I both know about coming a long way, and overcoming being taught the wrong things, Fraulein Kirsch; so if you ever feel you need someone who has been there and walked in those shoes, I'll be around."

"Th… thank you sir," said Katti. The amazing Herr Malfoy had needed to overcome bad upbringing? That was a revelation! Also that he called her 'fraulein.' And now Katti also knew how much he loved Biirta, and how much she loved him, and that Herr Kesselring loved Magda, and the babies they had adopted were not yet blooded. It was becoming much easier now she could understand more.

Lucius had left his younger guests to his older children to come to the gymkhana. He had the usual suspects staying, which included Clymene and, now, Leonard Baddock, and had extended an invitation to Sardo Mordaunt and his twin siblings, who would be meeting Ivo Mordaunt, who counted as one of the usual suspects, being a Marauder. There too was Wido Mordaunt, who had never marauded but was a friend of David's, and their cousin Mona, who had settled down now not under the strain of a neighbour from hell, and worked for Lucius in Wizarding Wireless Vision. Mona was an investigative journalist now, and followed up complaints of people in a similar situation to her own family, where the ministry felt there was no legal case to answer. Lucius' own quaestors followed up complaints free of charge, or rather on retainder to Lucius, to see if any legal recourse might be gained. The idea for this weekly program had been Mona's, and she had written to Lucius suggesting it. He had offered her a job, fronting it, and the program was also aimed at educating the public on their legal rights.

The Mordaunt twins were a little shocked to discover that the not-marauders of their own age group had worked as a group for their remove to a year above, where they were, as Tarquin told them kindly, doing work closer to being on a par with what they might expect to be doing at Prince Peak when they went there.

Since the Mordaunt twins discovered that the work they were doing at Hellibore's was not far removed from that of the next group of usual suspects down, which was Drogo Malfoy, Richard Snape and their sundry friends, they had a lot to learn!

"It's going to be hard," said Galena.

"We have a lot to catch up too," volunteered May Shorg. "I'll be in your class and my sisters in the year below. It's going to be tougher than at the Free School."

"But probably not as tough as coming from a school where assignments are optional," said Garnet, dryly. "We've been working as hard as we might, and we're still behind."

"We'll help you," said Sevvy, also in the group that had taken their remove. "We brought Amanda on, and she only joined the wizarding world at the beginning of the year. So it's quite possible. Even Hellibore can't have loused you up totally."

"Tact," laughed Naomi Cooper, who knew tact quite well as she had moved into a class with her older sister, Niobe, who was not really touchy, but who could be inclined to question her own self-worth.

"I don't think it's a school for people who want to work," sighed Galena. "Our brother feels it sorely, and he's been buckling down since he realised he was in for a shout at the Triwizard if he bucked up."

"Hellibores is for people who don't like rubbing shoulders with goblins and elves as equals, as much as for those who don't like work," said Sevvy, shrugging. "And then there are those like my sisters Lilith and Draxana who are gluttons for punishment, and go to school early. Lils is taking every OWL and NEWT there are, just for shits and giggles."

"We'd have done that if we'd had a schoolmaster for a father," said Iris Shorg.

"I'm quite happy with our father as he is," said Violet.

"She doesn't mean she isn't," said Lilac, "Only that if he had been, we'd have picked up more than we already have, and we cast wordlessly and wandlessly because we decided to learn, and because if you hang around the library at school you can pick up an awful lot, especially when you have a big brother to eavesdrop on. We did hope to be put in with May, but Prince Peak doesn't count casting wordless and wandless at our age as especially clever."

"Crumbs!" said Garnet. "We need to learn that."

"It's only a question of practising and willpower," said May. "I taught myself this year, so I could be a purple person with my sisters. It's their gang," she explained.

"We want to be Marauders," said Galena.

"Well we'd like to be Marauders too, but our school doesn't have them so we're the purple people instead, and May is Prunella when we gang," said Iris.

"Well, Galena has a purplish sheen, and Garnet is usually red, but it does come in a sort of magenta, can we be purple people too?" asked Galena.

The triplets exchanged glances, and looked at May.

"If we're all going to be new together, the Marauders might accept us if we already know how to gang together and work with people in other schools," said May.

"And it would be three of us in each year, which might be nice symmetry," said Lilac.

"That was yes," said Iris.

Galena and Garnet were thrilled to be part of a gang! Though they still hoped fervently to be Marauders. The Hogwarts Marauders and not-Marauders held their tongues; it wasn't up to them. But they thought the Marauders of Prince Peak would like the determination of this little group to work to get ahead.

* Peine Forte et dure was a medieval punishment, it's Medieval French for punishment hard and forceful, and involved lying on the back with a board on the chest onto which were piled heavy stones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The big event of the holidays at Malfoy Manor was the marriage of Griselen and Genavka to Hugin and Munin Corbin. Lucius had been approached by his daughters before the holidays.

"Thing is, Dad," said Genavka, "If we wait until summer, we shall be getting wed with Zajala and Nigel, and she's our little sister, and it isn't done. Besides, Munin and I jumped the gun and I do want to breed inside of wedlock."

"Well, I can't complain about continence, because it's only Narcissa who keeps me behaving," said Lucius.

"Hugin and I are better potioneers than Genni and Munin," said Griselen, smugly.

"We forgot," said Genavka. "Well, babies arrive sooner or later, anyway."

"I was planning on being an academic for a while and taking over Corbin's Academy for Admiring Yourself," said Griselen.

"Nothing to stop me doing that with a baby," said Genavka.

"You're more capable than I am," said Griselen.

"And I'm sure one of the elves will be happy to help out if need be," said Lucius.

Genavka laughed.

"I think I'll see if I can find a liveried elf to hire; I'm not sure I can cope with being Professor Genavka who is bullied by an elf who has seen me grow up."

"Tell me about it," chuckled Lucius.

"Yes, dad, but you were reared expecting to own elves," said Griselen. "We have still got some issues with having servants. Because I can't count any Malfoy elves as slaves, whatever some of them want."

"Reedy," said Lucius, sighing. "Well at least I've impressed on her that Sol has duties to do which involve holiday assignments and made her think he has to work hard."

"And he did them all in the train like the rest of us I suppose," said Griselen. "Well, will you launch us?"

Lucius laughed, and the wedding was to take place before the children went back to school so even though many of the usual suspects may have gone home, there would be a sufficiency to make sure that those who objected to pure blood wizards marrying goblin girls fluoresced, floated or foamed at the mouth.

Kordach's magazine 'Sparkle' would have a field day, and hundreds, if not thousands, of little goblin girls would feel represented by two of the first ladies of goblinkind.

It was also to help Nigel Baddock, who had discussed with Zajala how best to approach his parents over marrying a goblin.

He asked David if he might talk by floo to ask Lucius for advice. David was happy to grant him permission and a measure of floo powder.

"You know how some people say 'my parents will kill me if they find out I went out with so and so?' Well in my case, with Zajala, it isn't necessarily a figure of speech. How am I going to tell them?" Nigel blurted out.

"My dear boy, tell them that you were cornered by me and I asked your intentions towards my daughter, and it occurred to you that it would do the family good to be married to a Malfoy, even if she was adopted," said Lucius.

"It's done my family good by being friendly with Malfoys; we aren't insane any more," said Nigel.

"Well, that was a matter of Gorbrin doing the sort of thing they make them head boy for, and Severus having the brains to figure out what was wrong," said Lucius. "But it will make a difference because I'll be making sure you have a plum appointment in my business empire when you leave school. Not because you're marrying my little girl, but because I can trust you to handle it. I'm planning on relocating Leonard somewhere away from your revolting uncle, and if it looks like that's in response to you marrying Zajala, then that will help them accept it."

"It seems disrespectful to Zajala."

"Zajala and Gorbrin are two of the most pragmatic of my children; and if she isn't listening in, I'll be surprised," said Lucius.

"He knows me well," said Zajala.

"Quite," said Lucius. "I honour your wish not to disrespect her, but I bet she's nodding at everything I say. Oh, and don't forget to tell them that you can always have a mistress, and insist that she accepts it because Lucius could hardly complain, which I would if you had a mistress who wasn't your wife in equal measure, but you don't have to say that."

"No, I … that's quite brilliant, sir."

"And don't forget to refer to me casually as 'Lucius' because that way they will see you've already got your feet well under the table. Now go and ask David for a couple of days leave from revision, because I doubt you'll be good for much until you've resolved this. Better yet, I'll ask leave for you and Zajala to come to the wedding, and I'll invite your parents. Which might leave them farting in a highly coloured fashion but I don't curb the little ones."

Nigel laughed.

"I wish I could have been cured to be a part of your weevil fests," he said. "But I can hope that we have children who will."

"Oh undoubtedly," said Lucius.

The wedding was on a drier day in a wet week, and Griselen and Genavka, tall, well-fed and happy, had grown up to be almost as beautiful as their lovely mother. Hugin and Munin were grinning all over their faces, and Bertram was fluorescing quite luridly. He also spent most of the day either frothing from the mouth or under langlock, since his comments managed to offend a selection of people.

Ransley Corbin, the Ravenclaw governor, and grandfather to the twins, was proud of his grandsons for being bold enough to permit themselves to open themselves to criticism when they felt they were taking the right step; and their arguments that the Malfoy-Tobak twins were pure blooded in the wizarding world were, to his mind, quite logical. Lucius disliked Ransley, but he did not loathe him the way he loathed Brannard Corbin, whose school the twins had ambitions towards. Brannard Corbin was not invited.

Ingram Corbin had decided to put a brave face on his sons' decision as he had no intention of losing contact with them through disowning them, and might be seen smiling determinedly.

He became a lot more expansive once Griselen started arguing arithmancy with him. Maybe his boys did know what they were doing after all! He resolved to get to know his daughters in law better, and make sure that they were worthy to be Corbins.

Had he voiced this opinion, he would have glowed as brightly from his nethers as his older son, but fortunately wisdom prevailed, and Lucius was quite affable to him. An excellent picture of the proud fathers together would appear in sundry magazines, and Ingram was credited by the Malfoys as being 'all right'.

Nigel extracted his parents, flattered to be invited to a Malfoy wedding, even if only of the goblin etceteras, and talked very fast.

His parents were shocked.

"You don't have to make so much of a sacrifice," said his father.

"It's not a sacrifice," said Nigel. "When you've been in a class with goblins, you don't notice their race so much. And Tanjela is a beautiful woman by anyone's standards, and her daughters are all enough like her that it's not a hardship to consider marriage to her. And if I take a mistress, Lucius is the last person who can complain," he added.

His father laughed.

"There is that," he said. "Well, I'm glad you are being practical about it. And I believe Mr. … Lucius … has offered Leonard a job, which means he will do better for himself than under my idiot brother."

"Lucius has no great opinion of Uncle Wally," said Nigel, dryly. "He's insulted a Malfoy-in-law, and Lucius takes that sort of thing personally."

The Malfoy-in-law was Mary-Anne Green-Dell, who was a Malfoy-in-law twice, by circuitous routes, once in being married to Lionel Dell, and once in having Morgan Malfoy-Green as her stepmother.

Baddock senior shuddered.

"Yes, Lucius is good at taking things personally," he said. "I've heard plenty of stories."

"Half of them played down and the other half exaggerated, I imagine," said Nigel. "Lucius likes to keep an aura of fear around him against those he despises. But apart from the odd personal jinxes he doesn't step outside the law. Or at least, not so he can be caught," he added.

"And it's wise to stay on the right side of him," his father nodded approval. "And at least she's Hogwarts Triwizard champion, so she's a superior kind of goblin. Unless Lucius fixed it?"

"It can't be fixed like that, only confused into thinking there are more schools," said Nigel. "Like Lilith did. But then, Lilith is Voldemort's granddaughter and has more power than most. Also being Sev Snapes's daughter, she grew up reading learned publications."

"An unwholesomely clever child."

"Yes, but at least she knows how to be a child as well," said Nigel. It was going to be fine, and now he could take his exams without a sick fear that his parents might try to kill his chosen bride.

Agata Bacsó awoke being pulsed by Eve, Zyrillis, Severus and Jade, and sat up in bed. Saxdred grabbed dressing gowns as a selection of people started turning up.

"Why me?" demanded Agata.

"Because you have an excuse to get to Beauxbatons to check out the preparations there," said Severus crisply. "I take it all our seers have common visions, dreams and so on? Our dreamer dreamt."

"I had a full blown one," said Eve. "About ropework gates at Beauxbatons just before term starts, to put all the staff under the Imperious Curse and make sure of dealing with the contumelious ones when the contest happens. I believe it was a rather sudden idea of someone's to do it, and that's why we all dreamed at the same time instead of needing ruthlessly applied divination. I think they already tried at the Cheesy Crumpet school and hit ritual exclusion lines, and felt sore enough to want another plan."

"Yes, bouncing off that changed the ways and paths, which goes to show that organising against a vague disquiet rather than following it through can seriously disrupt things," added Zyrillis.

"I showed my volunteers how to do that exclusion," said Severus. "I didn't think that they were ready to accept the attack various diviners were predicting, not with the children so fragile, so it seemed worth taking the chance of changing history by acting on the divination results rather more forcefully than usual. Desolina will take a strong suggestion from you, Agata, that she set up a line of exclusion of ritual. I've written it out for you to take to her, it should cover sendings and gates. And I'm afraid her cleverer pupils will be unable to get any more sendings out, as I haven't troubled with the refinement of making it one way. She'll have to warn them."

"Well, while you're here, make us all coffee," said Agata. "Excuse me," and she stalked over to her private bathroom.

"We are sorry, Agata, to intrude," said Jade. "The over-active bladder improves for a while, before the baby is big enough to put elbows and knees in it."

Agata flushed.

"Mein Leibling!" gasped Saxdred.

"Oh. Sorry, did I spoil the news?" asked Jade.

"I wasn't sure," said Agata.

"I thought you'd feel … well, you have had a lot on your plate," said Jade.

"Oh, but yes, my leibling, there is a tiny life!" Saxdred, feeling for his closest kin, looked awed.

"I think we're superfluous, Eve," said Zyrillis.

"And how," Eve agreed.

Jade kissed Agata, and everyone departed, leaving Saxdred to welcome Agata back into his arms when she returned from the lavatory.

"I had hoped to make sure and break it gently," said Agata.

"There are drawbacks to being in so large a family; but the advantages offset them," said Saxdred, gently. "We shall go to Beauxbatons first thing in the morning, and look again at the site of the maze, because you have thought of a potential problem."

"Which is more or less true," said Agata. "Severus never did make coffee."

"I'd rather have a kiss," said Saxdred.

They were awake for a while longer.

Olympe Maxime welcomed Agata and her handyman to Beauxbatons in the morning.

"This is Saxdred; we're getting married," said Agata.

She almost wished she had not broken the news when Olympe enfolded her in a massive Gallic hug and kissed her on both cheeks, and then did the same to Saxdred.

"Ah, Agata, I am so pleased for you! Always, I thought you a cold fish, colder even than the Engleesh can be, but no! You are passionate inside to choose for love, not for pure blood!"

"Racism is foolish," said Agata. "I just wanted to check something over for the maze; may I borrow Desolina? There are a few precautions I wish to take."

"Ah, indeed, one cannot rule out the Russians trying to cause trouble," said Olympe. "Very wise of you, Agata; Desolina is yours as long as you need her."

Desolina listened to what Agata had to tell her, read the list of instructions from Severus, and went in search of Pharamond and his cronies.

It was another brute force solution, but Beauxbatons was not a school which one could leave to enjoy fighting dark wizards. They would not be likely, even Pharamond, to look upon it as a high treat and light relief to the revision.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Pharamond, like any laid back Frenchman, knew when to stop being laid back and when to get vindictive. And Pharamond had a part goblin fiancée and a half goblin brother, and he knew quite well that the Russians would kill his innocent baby brother as readily as a staunch fighter against evil like Philomène. Consequently he added a few twists to Severus' chant, and when the children returned to the castle after the holidays it was to find a few new statues in grotesque positions, and with startled looks on their faces. Some of them were missing the odd appendage. Pharamond had set the conditions that anyone coming through a gate would be turned to stone, and the gate immediately closed, five seconds after the head emerged. This was a little unfortunate for any invading Russians who had not got fully through the gate in five seconds; which did not especially trouble Pharamond. What the Russians sending their colleagues through might think when the odd foot, hand, and in one case a lower leg and a pair of rather fat buttocks dropped heavily to the floor was only to be a matter of conjecture.

Olympe had been a little startled by the suddenly sprouting statuary; she had a statue of a rather hairy, wild-eyed fellow in her study, and found it a little disturbing. She remonstrated with Desolina.

Desolina shrugged.

"I am sorry, Olympe; Pharamond is something of an enthusiast," she said. "I thought they would rather improve the décor, myself. If they are visible on Wizarding Wireless Vision so that the Necromancer can see them."

"My dear Desolina! I am quite overcome. You are almost English in your ruthless handling of the matter."

"Thank you," said Desolina, deciding to take that as a compliment.

Once the rest of the staff had received this explanation, the grumbles largely ceased, and hence the children not staying for exams had the surprise of finding new statues in the great hall.

"The Necromancer is starting to be annoying," said Lilith, to Sextus. They had heard about the non-musical statues at Beauxbatons on the Marauding grapevine. "Why don't we go and annoy him a little bit back?"

"What you mean, half-pint, is why don't we go and do the sorts of things you'd like to do to my mother but avoid doing in the hopes that she will grow out of being dippy when she has grandchildren," said Sextus.

"I suppose so, in part," said Lilith. "It's just that we've been being reactive, not proactive, and it sort of goes against the grain to let dark wizards make the running and set the pace."

"I see what you mean. How much of this is impatience and how much is hunch?"

"Well, a bit of hunch says that if we can scare him good and proper, he might just back off for long enough for us to get the Triwizard out of the way, and give Hawke and Lynx long enough to be ready to launch their disciples upon Russia, when they've stolen the hearts and minds of the pure cows."

"That was a lovely pun, Cheesty Korova," said Sextus. "Severus is very good at insults."

"He is, rather," said Lilith. "Right, we're agreed we're going to do it, so now we need to decide what to do."

"Shouldn't we talk to the other Stripy Marauders?"

"No. We're going to use fey space because we are fairly certain he can't use it, or even know it exists, and you and I are the only ones who can do it. And there's no point letting them share in it when they'll only be disappointed not to join in. So it'll be our secret."

Sextus nodded.

"All right, half-pint, I hear you. I take it nothing of the nuisance level, like leaving dead fish around, black face soap and so on?"

"No. That would be funnier, but it wouldn't be something he'd initially connect with having been infiltrated by magic beyond his ken. It has to be something benign yet brings home to him that we have been in a position to kill him."

"A dagger in the pillow beside him being too blunt, if a blade can be said to be blunt?"

"It's a little straightforward and also rather ordinary," said Lilith. "I was thinking about surrounding him with flowers, while he sleeps, as though laid out for a funeral."

"I rather like it," said Sextus, "But what about a few pots of flitterbloom as well? Just so he knows it might have been devil's snare."

Lilith squealed with delight and kissed Sextus hard.

This was almost a mistake, but Sextus managed to regain control of himself, and stepped away, blushing and clearing his throat.

"Sorry," said Lilith, also blushing.

"I am going to be glad when you've grown up," said Sextus, breathing hard. "Right, flitterbloom. When?"

"Well, he's two hours ahead of us in time zones, so in a couple of hours should do it," said Lilith. "But I suggest we go raid a florists shop first; I'm not sure I can create all those flowers and permanence them without him waking up and wondering why it suddenly got to be winter again."

"Good point," said Sextus. "To make enough to make a real point you'd almost create new weather systems there."

"And Daddy would be most awfully waxy about that, because we don't really want to throw a tornado at Russia," said Lilith. "And the number of flowers I was envisioning would make it a F2 I should think."

Sextus shuddered.

"You mean, make his bedroom full to the level of his bed?"

"Just above. So he has a blanket of them."

"We need to raid several florists and I hope you have muggle cash."

"Heaps; I always keep plenty for emergencies."

"Just as well."

Prince Aleksandr had a bedroom that could only be described as baroque. The baroque was decidedly over the top. Lilith wandered through his house in fey space, and found what she was looking for in a music room. A little chanting around the organ, and a quick banishing charm brought it into the already crowded bedroom. Sextus raised an eyebrow. So far as he could gather that chant had laid in an enchantment to play Fauré's Requiem, with a temporal component to set it off just about daybreak. Sometimes Lilith liked to embellish a little too much, but the baroque surroundings did make one feel unwontedly melodramatic.

And then they were bringing in flowers by the thousands, using extrinsic translocation by precision, or apportation if you were one of the majority of the wizarding world who never learned, or promptly forgot, NEWT level terms for such things.

Lilith critically arranged the flowers to her satisfaction, and then brought in the four pots of flitterbloom, and placed them at each of the bed posts, on the bed itself.

"Good, I think we are done," she breathed into Sextus' ear. "I do hope he isn't old enough to need to take a leak before sun up."

"Put a sleeping curse on him, to remain asleep until the sound of the organ," murmured Sextus. "It's not hard and if he has any amulets, tattoos or knotwork to prevent harm being done to him, it's not harm so it shouldn't set anything off."

"Nice," said Lilith. She danced above the ground so that her feet chanted the required pattern, and the Necromancer breathed softly and deeply. With due consideration, Sextus also put the barrier charm on the door, with a twist to add a degree of temporal decay.

Lilith nodded approval.

"And as he's ahead of us, we can sneak back and watch," she said.

"We'll be sleepy tomorrow."

"Let the others think we've been necking all night. None of them will interfere; they know I'm a good enough potioneer to stop any unwanted side effects."

"You know, I think this might almost be better than sex."

"Bite your tongue! When we get there, you'll change your mind."

Sextus did not disagree; she was probably right.

The organ's sonorous and solemn symphonious salutation of the sun woke Prince Aleksandr. For a moment he was confused, and then he saw around him an array of flowers, and the flitterbloom. He screamed, and bluebell flames danced from his fingers. Lilith and Sextus held hands in sheer delight. It was also worth knowing that he knew enough to cast some things at least wordlessly and wandlessly.

Aleksandr woke enough to recognise that the flitterbloom was flitterbloom and not devil's snare, and the bluebell flames went out with almost a snap. However, it was quite plain that he was alive to the idea that if someone had got flitterbloom into his bedroom, they could also get devil's snare in there.

The door was rattling, and a worried voice from without was calling to the Prince in consternation.

"Be silent, I … I had a bad dream," said Aleksandr.

"He's much better than Gerhardt," muttered Lilith, from inside a one-way muffliatus spell. "He would have been screeching for someone to do something."

"A step or two up from Dick Dastardly then," murmured Sextus. "He's getting his wand. Ah, to check if they are real, or illusions?"

"And a sensible thing to check," said Lilith. "Dear me, is he sending all those pretty flowers to the Evanesco place?"

"Looks like," said Sextus. "Doesn't want anyone to know. I wonder if he'll make discreet enquiries."

"He almost has to," said Lilith. "However, if he lets people think his dream was disquieting because it was of the kind that may be prophetic, he can claim he thinks an attempt to infiltrate might have been made, and ask if anyone noticed anything."

"He might not be as clever as you."

"He isn't, but he's clever enough to come up with that. I used legilimensy, and I'm a better legilimens than he is an occlumens because he doesn't expect anyone to be insolent enough to try legilimensy on him. He thinks you need to point a wand and use the word for such difficult magic."

"Be fair, half-pint, to most people it IS difficult magic."

"Is it? I suppose I can't remember when I wasn't a legilimens. I think I was using it before I could talk."

"Yes, but you're extraordinary."

"Well, I'll take your word for it. Yes, he's got a plan, and he will apologise nicely for waking anyone, and … Oh, he's just remembered that the organ shouldn't be here."

Finite incantatum did not stop the inexorable call for requiem aeturnum, requiem hodie, which the organ pipes were managing to intone, outside of their usual capabilities, and the kyrie eleison having enough cultural significance for the Prince to recognise what it was. Finally the revellaspell evidently told Aleksandr that it was operating under a degree of ritual. He quickly looped rope, muttering as he did so.

"A formulaic ending ritual; it should work, I wasn't especially worried about whether it ran out or not," said Lilith. "Interesting to note that it's one they seem to learn by rote. It's not as good as Hallow's curse breaking knotwork though."

"Well that was specific," said Sextus. Severus had passed Aglaia's notes to Lilith for checking, knowing that Lilith was likely to have insights on it.

"True. And he's returning it whence it came. He's actually moderately good," said Lilith. "He might be almost as good as Voldemort. He might even be better."

"He's not as lost to being human," said Sextus, "so he should understand his followers better."

"Possibly," Lilith frowned in thought. "Depends a lot on how much of a psychopath he is, and you have to be pretty psychopathic to want to be a necromancer if you ask me. But a lot of them are charming, so we shall see."

"And if he plans on sweetly apologising for disturbing people… how does he plan to explain the organ?"

"Mind control. Telling them they were dreaming and imagined it. Should work, with those close to him, he has them pretty well controlled. The live ones that is. I think we should go now."

Sextus took her hand, and they ran back to Scotland through the other space, unerringly riding the ley lines that were quite visible in this place of magic.

It may be said that the other Stripy Marauders teased them unmercifully for being rather sleepy in the morning, and got them to admit slipping out of Scotland for a while. And if everyone else concluded that this had meant a necking party on the beach in New Zealand, Sextus and Lilith did nothing to put them right.

"You weren't in New Zealand because I have safeguards; so where were you?" asked David.

The guilty pair exchanged looks.

"St Petersburg," said Lilith.

"Do I want … or rather do I ought to know why?" asked David, mildly, trying to hide his shock.

"I had a hunch that frightening Prince Elastic Knickermancer might be a good idea," said Lilith. "So we did."

"And were you going to tell me about it?"

"We weren't, but as you seem to be quite as omniscient as Daddy, I suppose we'd better," sighed Lilith, and proceeded to do so.

David tried not to shudder at what might have gone wrong; Lilith and Sextus were probably safe enough, and there were always blood ties … and of all the people in the world, they were two of three who were not at least part-elves who were probably actually even able to get back from the Evanesco place without difficulty. The third, of course, was Severus. Any of the blood joined should be able to, but they had been there and knew what to expect. David himself feared he might freeze and take damage before finding Ellie's bloodsong.

"I wish you'd let me know when these hunches strike you, Lilith," he said. "It's most tiresome of you; you know I'm the group expert on the Russians, and I might have been able to add a few psychological twists. Well, too late now. You can go to bed a couple of hours early for the next three nights to make up for all that lost sleep."

"Yes, sir," said Lilith, faintly chastened at the idea that David might have been able to add to the plan; which had been David's general idea. She might come to him in future so at least he would know where she was and what she was doing, even if stopping her from executing a plan was an exercise in futility.

And at least they now knew that he could cast wordlessly and wandlessly, and was moderately good at thinking on his feet, and actually fairly courageous to handle the shock of it by himself without sending for his minions first, and realising it might dent his image of being all powerful after. It was something to share with Severus, Jade, Agata and Hawke. Severus would sigh over it being Lilith to have done this, and David would emphasise that he had punished the pair, and leave it to Severus to be fair enough not to bring the matter up. They had not shared with the others of their ilk, so this should remain amongst the adult leaders of the fight against Russia. And when general knowledge seeped down, the younger ones would have no idea who had uncovered the information. David understood. Already Lilith was looking towards protecting the others from things she did not think they could cope with. She was too old for her years; but then, what chance did she have of being anything else, with all she had been through from her conception onwards! She loved Sextus well enough to treat him as an equal, and that boded well for their future together.

The multicoloured roses had not yet disappeared, and as David saw no sign of temporal decay, presumably nobody had yet pricked themselves on a thorn.

He considered doing so himself, to set his curse on the roses into action, but decided against it. Magical effects might be expected at schools of magic. And he would suggest to Pomona that she should collect any seed produced by the more colourful blooms to see what sort of plants they might grow into. Some of the children were quite ingenious.

And it was not as if they could not hide it behind glamour for when St Jodoc's came for a cricket match.

The Musical Marauders in Durmstrang were having a bit of trouble with one of their magical effects.

One of the topiary horses, discovering it to be spring, had developed a growth that had not been trimmed and was feeling his oats looking for a mare. He became quite aggressive, and was almost pruned by the feral desk when he tried to mount it.

"What are we going to do?" demanded Bronislava.

"Point him at a centaur?" suggested Corneliu.

"Don't you dare, poor horse," said Sigismund. "Zoltan, can we create a mare?"

"No, but I think with all the experience we've had, we should be able to transfigure a bush into one, and then… well, we can't really put her back."

"Oh well, extra horses never come amiss," Lindhardt opined.

"And it might be interesting to find out if she foals," added Beremud.

"I don't see how…" Beryx began.

"Well we can see if she does or not," said Sigismund, hastily. "Quickly, let's get a bush sorted out before the others arrive this afternoon; we don't want him lustfully pursuing someone like the Eulenspeigel twins, we'd be toast!"

This was a profound sort of statement, and chanting was made use of.

The coy filly that had once been a rhododendron caught the eye of the stallion at once, and when his passion was satisfied, the part that had not been pruned wilted satisfactorily.

The Musical Marauders vowed never to neglect their pruning again, since it was plain that this was what had caused it, as the other topiary horse was quite well behaved and might be presumed to be gelded. They waited until the topiary horse was in quiescent bush form and then did the necessary trimming to make sure that it didn't happen again.

Zsombor Czerny and Irenke Black approached Ulvik, holding hands and looking nervous.

"We want to Maraud, if you'll have us, so we can share with Zaly before he and Grelleg change schools," said Zsombor. "We did talk to him about it."

Ulvik regarded him thoughtfully.

"And what did Zaly say?"

"He said if we were ready to take on what Marauding is about, we were ready to be Marauders," said Irenke. "And we are, because it means defeating the people who taught Zsombor to be nasty."

"I don't suppose it was all their fault if it was a brain imbalance, but … but at least I learned a bit before I was cured of it," said Zsombor.

"Compassion towards them? I like that," said Ulvik. "Very well; and it's a new term, new beginnings, so if you ask me, no time like the present. Come on."

A selection of blooded drifted into the shrubbery, which seemed as good a place to hold a blooding as any if they were not going to bother with using midnight and a turret.

And Zsombor clung to Irenke and sobbed when he understood her even more than ever, and realised how many times she had almost turned her back on him. And he clung too to Zaly's hand, knowing now how much it had meant to the half elf boy to be even civil to him.

"He'll do," said Ulvik, to Mava. "Another one of us sorted out with a marriage partner already too!"

"Who else is?" asked Mava.

"Well, you and me, aren't we?" said Ulvik.

Mava said nothing, but she blushed and snuggled at him. It was nice to know she would one day marry quite the cleverest and nicest boy she knew, and who would wait until she was ready, instead of her being a prostitute already as once she had expected.

Oleksandr Fedirovitch Drach was still enjoying himself hugely at Prince Peak. He was teaching a Saturday voluntary class in knotwork, and though he sighed occasionally at the inability of some of his students to construct anything more shipshape than a granny knot, he was most impressed by those students who had picked up the idea quickly. Even if the boy Radagas had promptly used it to make a macrame bag knotted to hold a preserving charm, and where he had learned that one at his age, Drach preferred not to ask. It was very useful for picnics. And Radagas was not only a goblin, but was in a class a year ahead of his chronological age. Drach, a true scholar, was happy to be docilely led by the facts when his prejudices were challenged.

"Did we ought to go to Russia to help your fellows there?" he asked Severus.

"I thought of asking you, but to be honest, I think that could be politically explosive," said Severus. "The ones who went are holding their own, with the aid of Aglaia and her friends. Leave them to it for a while, and perhaps you can visit to help around the exam times, to, er, observe another school before helping set up yours. They'll be vulnerable around the exams, and a couple of extra very able wizards, if your friends would join you, would not come amiss."

"I shall do as you suggest. Most entertaining to look over Gospoza Hallow's notes about restoring the Durak; she's quite right, it would work very well. I might make an effort to know her better when she leaves school, she is an interesting and deep young lady, and has, like me, had her world well shaken. And she would be an asset to our school. Female teachers will be most welcome."

"She might, of course, wish to work in England," said Severus, mildly.

"Well, I can always ask," said Drach. "And if she is interested, then I will be most pleased. I take it I cannot poach any of your other postgraduate students?"

"You can try Zlatko and his wives," said Severus. "He's marrying twins when they leave school. Princess Orinjade has other duties, Mafalda has a burning ambition, Amos is too fragile, Guy has other plans, Ignaz has a job to go to, and Elise is getting married. As to Leesitsa and Domna, they might want to return to teach permanently at their old school. But ask; you never know."

"Thank you, I shall. What a lot of fun there is to be had in schools!" declared Drach.

Severus did not enlighten him that many people considered the fighting of dark wizards and dealing with the mischief of teenagers to be anything but fun.

After all, he agreed with Drach.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Rookwood," said Lilith, "We Marauders have often felt that you almost fitted with us, and I think the only thing that's stopped us inviting you in is that you've held yourself aloof."

"Of course I've held myself aloof," Gareth Rookwood said. "I've always wanted to be friends with you and Scarpin and the others more than anything, but I was afraid of being rejected."

"Oh if that's all it is then, I'm sorry we waited so long," said Lilith. "We can go ahead and blood you in, and then it won't matter that Venus is a bit sweet on you."

"She is?" Gareth was grinning. "I thought she only went to the ball with me because you told her to."

"Well, that did get her thinking in the right way," said Lilith. "And you might as well get to know her better in case things go any further. Will your father cut up rough that she's part goblin?"

"No, he's more likely to be pleased that it shows we're _not_ Deatheaters," said Gareth. "So … this is about what your father wrote in his book?"

"Oh good, someone literate who doesn't make a fuss," said Lilith.

"Oy, half-pint, I do the snideries around here," said Sextus.

"Oh, if I were a part of your cheerful rudeness to each other, I would like it so much," said Gareth.

"Oh well, let's get on with it," said Lilith.

"And he's snide enough to be a Snape or a Scarpin so we might as well have him on our side," grinned Gennar.

Shortly, Gareth was grinning all over his face and realising what he had been missing out on.

"Pity we aren't supposed to pull japes now we're geriatric, because it almost calls for one as a celebration," said Kazrael.

"Oh well, let's go and pick a load of magical rose petals and make a few gallons of wine instead," said Gennar.

"Do you know how?" asked Venus.

"More or less, and you and Lils are our resident potioneers, so I figured between us we can manage something. It should be mature just about in time for us to be adult and able to drink it legally," said Gennar.

"It'll be mature by Christmas, you baboon, when most of us especially me won't be," said Lilith.

"Well, we'll drink it illegally then," said Gennar.

This was considered unarguable, so the stripy marauders went to harvest rose petals, sticking where they could to the stripy ones, in the hopes that Venus and Lilith were good enough potioneers to keep the wine stripy too. Thoughtfully they also picked some black and purple ones for a dark purple wine which should be enough to put anyone except its originators and sundry Goths off it. They rejected petals with polka dots as silly, but picked enough rainbow ones for a gallon as Lilith had a feeling that rainbow wine might just have interesting properties. Nobody was about to gainsay a feeling Lilith had!

There was nothing to stop the younger Marauders from pulling a jape, save the unwritten rule that nothing that affected exam year students was to be attempted, unless it was something they would enjoy. The Pepperingye Marauders decided to put on an impromptu concert at which the major offering was to be a version of the song 'Portobello Road' from the film that had given them their name, only with some of the artefacts on sale changed to be more appropriate to the Wizarding World, providing suitable illusions for every unlikely thing they dreamed up for sale. The rhyming might leave much to be desired, but at least they had tried.

"Hogwarts, a History; an Auror tale Mystery

Instructions to necromancers trying to nec,

A real Hand of Glory, a gun from the Vory

A seven foot chicken whose beak cannot peck.

Voldemort's underpants, Gerhardt's collected rants

Lucius' peacocks all shimmering white,

Some competent potions, and quite dodgy lotions,

Madame Maxime's bloomers, ooh what a sight!

Portobello road, Portobello road

Street where the riches of ages are stowed.

Artefacts to glorify a royal abode  
Are hidden in the flotsam in Portobello road.  
You'll find what you want in the Portobello Road.

Tealeaf stained tea mugs, psychedelic slugs,

Belonging to artists of dubious fame,

Plants that are spiny, Snitches all shiny

A dirty old cup which is glowing with flame.

A portrait of rivals, curious survivals!

Interrogations by Trimmer devised

Genuine bezoars if you know what they are,

A Rakshasa's whiskers that look most surprised!"

It went on in this vein and generally speaking, most of the audience were much amused. Especially Kevin, who was delighted with the reference to himself and his slugs.

Others had been nagged into giving some kind of performance, which meant that Lilith and Sextus sang "walking in the air" whilst doing just that, with malice aforethought to demoralise those people who could not believe this was possible; and the whole Marauder contingent sang "There's a Zombie in my attic", mercifully with only six verses, and "My old man's a desplincher."

Iphianira and Harry began the term having had lessons in the morning over the holidays to catch them up to their fellows, and being in a class full of Marauders found that they had plenty of help in class as well. They were just so happy to be able to do magic, that pass marks made them feel victorious, but as CuHH pointed out, Marauders pushed their own limits.

"Yeah, and one pushes CuHH's limits with Arithmancy if you ask him to count to more than ten," said Hiob.

"True, o best beloved," said CuHH, looking nervously over his shoulder for Yog Sockoth. It would be a long time before he forgot what Law Visick, who was serious about muggle studies, called 'that particular arithmancy hashtag fail.' What muggle incantation a hashtag might be part of, CuHH was uncertain but it had to do with computer magic, because Law and Harry both spoke the odd and runic language called 'Geek' which was not in the least like Greek, which CuHH could handle on a good day with the wind behind him, so long as he knew the text to be translated. And CuHH took runes seriously, since his only real talent was in the potions dungeon, and chants helped potioneering and runes helped chanting. CuHH was probably the least academic of his brothers, which was why he believed in hard work. For him, it was the only way to excel.

Neville had a little excitement in the Free School when a part goblin woman declared that he had kidnapped her daughter and demanded the return of the girl, Jeszlinn. Neville had no idea what the woman was talking about, and advised her to go to the aurors if her daughter had been kidnapped.

This led to Jeszlinn's mother, Hazelinn being arrested, once the aurors had unravelled the tale that her eleven-year-old daughter had run away to school where she was being kept away from her rightful mother, and prevented from working in a brothel to keep her mother.

The wretched Hazelinn had no idea that forcing little girls to work in a brothel was illegal. It had happened to her, and she did not see why the unwanted product of one of her clients should not keep her.

It was no real case for Azhkaban, and Alastor took the case before the Council.

"We need secure units for people who can be rehabilitated and retrained, who do not necessarily need Azhkaban," said Lucius. "Places where they can learn normality, not the brutal life to which they have been raised. No excuse for the brothel owner of course; the statutes were clearly passed around."

"No, and she'll be going down for a long time," said Moody with gloomy satisfaction. "Secure units. How the hell are we going to find secure units and people to man them?"

"Tap the muggle resources we have, and offer some of the relatives of muggleborn wizards jobs as guards and mentors," said Lucius. "Part of the custodial sentence can be a goblin-made collar that leaches magic. Most of the people who need it most are little more capable than muggles anyway. And there are plenty of unoccupied office blocks; I'll see about buying some of them out and covering them with gaze repelling charms."

"I'll put Harry and Draco onto it," grunted Moody. "They're probably more capable than most at handling muggles."

David broke the news to Jeszlinn that her mother had been arrested for demanding her return to the brothel.

"The council is looking for solutions for people who break the law for whom Azhkaban is too much. And this was because the Aurors didn't think that she deserved Azhkaban. She had no idea that it was illegal."

"But I'm your ward aren't I? I'm safe?"

"You are, and you don't have to worry. I thought you should know."

"Oh, Professor Fraser, I do wish I had normal parents!"

"Jeszlinn, your bad childhood has given you strengths that you will, I'm sure, use to help others. Ellie and I are not very normal as parents go, as we fight dark wizards, but would you like us to adopt you?"

"Can I call you 'Daddy' like other children do to their fathers?"

"I'll take that as a yes. Of course, Jeszlinn. And Ellie is Mummy. I know it will take you a while to know what a real mummy is."

"I know. I've watched her with your own children; it's about cuddles not beatings. I want a real mummy."

"Well, then, my dear, will you add Fraser to your name, or remain just Withers?"

"It's important to have the Withers, isn't it? People seem to think so."

"Yes; it's an old family that almost died out."

"Then I'll be Fraser-Withers, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

And David gave his new daughter a cuddle, because she needed it.

When she had had time to come to terms with having family unconditionally, he would suggest blooding in. She was strong; and if the newest layer of Marauders had not already involved her with their plans, it was because she had been working so hard to find out how to behave, and they were giving her the room to find herself. Time to suggest to them to stop standing back from her. Of course, Mungo chose not to choose the blood group, and Vasilica had chosen the other group, but Jeszlinn fitted very will with the disparate group in the first.

Harry and co needed little prodding to approach Jeszlinn.

"Jezzy, would you like to Maraud?" asked Harry, bluntly. "We haven't asked you before as you were a bit jittery, but you seem a lot happier."

"I'm being adopted by the head, and he's my daddy," said Jeszlinn.

"Oh, excellent," said Iris. "He's a sort of spare big brother for me, but he's the sort of grown up you can rely on."

"Reliable fathers are good," said Harry.

"Mine isn't; he's a … a toerag," said Ace, who had heard Lucius use the expression.

"And I don't know who mine is," said Sol. "But it doesn't matter. Marauders borrow each other's parents as reliable grownups anyway."

"Especially when the parents are Marauders too," said Harry.

"Does … does _daddy_ know about Marauders?" asked Jeszlinn.

"You poor prune, he was a Marauder back in the olden times," said Iris.

"Snapery of Snaperies, that was snide and a half," said Ivo.

"Yes, wasn't it? And technically he was a supporter, not a Marauder, but then Lils says he led other fourth years against werewolves when they were fighting Voldemort, and she was there. And if that isn't Maraudery, I don't know what is. He was just in a year when he and Grace Snape-Malfoy were the only Maraudery types, and it was the Malfoy twins and the oiks who ran with them who were declared Marauders in the year below."

"Well explain to Jezzy what it's all about while I make cocoa," said Sol.

If the explanation was not confused, this was due to Harry taking charge, and explaining about how Marauding was revived to protect his cousin, Harry Potter, and that it kind of grew as it went along.

So Jeszlinn found herself tentatively slitting her palm, and discovering suddenly how she would never be alone again, nor vulnerable. And David and Ellie apported in to share with her too, and she flung herself on Ellie.

"Sorted," said Iris.

To celebrate bringing in another Marauder, the first year Marauders had to pull a jape. And as it had to be a harmless and amusing jape this term, they settled for teaching the roses to sing songs about roses when tickled; and Iris knew enough ritual and music to make sure that they remained in the same song as each other, and at the same point in the music. Iris was critical of her efforts, being fairly certain that at her age, Lilith would have managed four part harmony, but Ivo said,

"Yeah, but Lils is just out of the league of any of us, and I vote that a piece of Snapery out of the league of most first years."

Iris knew this was true enough, and stopped moping. The rest were just pleased to have pulled off a moderately sophisticated jape!

And if some of the members of the school might have preferred not to be woken to the strains of 'Roses of Picardy' or 'The last Rose of Summer', or Ace's contribution 'Yellow Rose of Texas' because America had to be represented, if one counted Texas, then they were only those who did not belong to the MSHG, since it was usually one of that group who set off the roses by tickling them on returning from their run. And it was more melodious than the rising bell.

It may be said that other Marauders added to the roses' repertoire, to avoid boredom, and the roses soon knew 'Rose of Tralee', 'Rambling Rose', 'Rose Marie', Paper Roses,' – nobody would own up to this one – 'Rose Garden' and 'Blood Red Roses', this one being the offering of the Stripy Marauders who were fond of rock music in general, and Uriah Heep as one of the particulars. Being the Stripy Marauders it was performed with singular aplomb. And at that, David thought that perhaps they had got away lightly that they had preferred Uriah Heep to Meatloaf's 'Like a Rose'. Wisely, he did not remind them about this. The words were not suitable for some of the younger children.

It may be said that everyone suspected that it was Madam McGonagall who added 'My luve is like a red, red rose' purely because it was by a Scottish poet. And David himself undertook the tricky little chant to add a trumpet component to play 'La vie en Rose' as well as the sung lyrics.

On due consideration he decided to remove the curse that would see the roses fade away when anyone pricked themselves. They were too entertaining.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The news that rocked Beauxbatons was that the French Chateau Forte et Dure had been broken into, and Dolokhov had been released. Dozens of inferii had been a part of the attack, and a number of dementors.

"Well, the Necromancer believes in making sure other people don't punish his minions," said Pharamond. "I wonder if he's capable of undoing Pony Boy from his hooves?"

"It'll give us the measure of him if he can. I wish we could be a fly on the wall," mourned Philomène.

Severus, having interrogated Lilith with a mind link over her visit to Prince Aleksandr, managed to be a fly on the wall, and was in time to catch Dolokhov having a royal dressing down whilst the curses were stripped away. Severus made a note to tell Aglaia that the Prince had used similar methods to those she had devised from the skills she had learned.

The Meerkat was also present, and Severus chuckled to himself that the necromancer had been unable to undo the extremely competent curse of his wife, who could be rather thorough when anyone had gone out of their way to irritate her. Presumably she had lapsed into Parseltongue at some point, which would defeat the best of curse breakers, unless they, too, were Parselmouths.

Lord Pyotr deserved it.

Severus noted that Dolokhov was both relieved to be rescued from his predicament, frightened by the necromancer, and hopping mad to be told to shut up and put up as his school would be dealt with in due course, when the English stopped keeping so close an eye on it.

Severus smiled grimly. That wasn't going to happen; but it was worth while dropping in to give a due warning to Hawke that the former Pony Boy was likely to act unilaterally. Dolokhov, like his late cousin, was like that.

It was such a shame that one could not lurk constantly in fey space to spy, but too long an exposure started to leach the physical substance from a body, and it served no useful purpose to be like butter spread over too much bread on the offchance of hearing something useful.

The Witch-King of Angmar was a suitable soubriquet for Prince Aleksandr, thought Severus, though Lilith's direct and childish name had its moments for amusement value.

Hawke listened to Severus' warning and nodded.

"Thanks for letting us know," he said. "Good that the necromancer has had the fear of Lilith put into him, but that fellow Dolokhov is a loose cannon. Has he many supporters?"

"I don't know, but I expect he is also hoping to have staff currently too cowed to rise against you ready to do so with his guidance and leadership."

"He'll be lucky; most of them are statuary," said Hawke, dryly.

Aglaia was pleased to learn that the curse breaking she had designed was pretty much what the necromancer had used.

"I appear to have a talent for it," she said.

"Yes, and as a Parselmouth, you could even undo Lord Pyotr," said Severus.

Aglaia frowned.

"Did I ought to offer to do so, having learned English methods, and pretend to support him?"

"No, my dear, the danger would be too great for you, for too little gain. You were quite publicly not happy about the treatment of your sister, and Prince, er, Elastic the Knickermancer, as Lilith dubbed him, tore him off several strips for irrevocably losing the use of someone with insights into the English way, as if it pleased you to keep a squib for a pet, this was your business as the English are great pet keepers, and said even to give board and keep to elves too old to work."

"I dislike him already," said Aglaia. "I only advocated killing elves when I thought the Russians would restore order to Durmstrang because I do not underestimate their abilities, or their cunning. And I knew they would thwart the invaders if they could. And I was very wrong."

"You have had a very odd upbringing, my dear," said Severus. "And as a schoolmaster, I can say with certainty that the reason for problem children is almost always in having problem parents. You've had an invitation to teach in the new school to be set up in Kiev by the Order of the Dragon, by the way; are you interested?"

"I have? Well, yes, I am, but I may end up with no qualifications, we're all worried sick here that the examinations board will refuse to examine us because of being terrorised by the, er, Knickermancer."

"Don't worry; tell your fellows that I will arrange to have a team of German examiners come out to you, the exams cannot be so very different, and after all, the ZH is recognised in all of Europe."

Aglaia brightened.

"Those of us who are thinking and rebelling had wondered if we could do a year with you and take exams as external students, but if we could have ZHs and ZPs, it will shut up those who are nagging us as troublemakers and denying them the right to qualifications."

"Good; I'll see Von Frettchen and organise that. And the school will pay the German examinations board and we will listen to the howls of anguish of the Russians over the loss of revenue. That will help convince the Russian academics which side they should be on. Dear me, how foolish of me to think that with Gerhardt out of the way life would be relatively peaceful!"

"Isn't it a Chinese curse, 'may you live in interesting times?'"

"Yes, but I am afraid that I suspect that I might find it flat without the added interest, and would go fomenting revolution somewhere instead," said Severus. "It's certainly more fun to be dealing with people I know I can handle than the terror of the years being a double agent and reporting to Voldemort for Dumbledore. That was moderately hellish, and that's why I don't want you doing the same thing for the Necromancer. I've done the job and I know what it's like."

"I think you must be a very brave man; wasn't that before the blood group?"

"Much of it, yes. I suppose that my burning hatred for the man who killed my first love kept me going, not necessarily an ideal reason, but it served its purpose. And then I had Krait and Lilith, and then Sirri to protect. And now the idea of protecting Lilith seems about as superfluous as protecting a basilisk on butter beer."

Aglaia laughed.

"She's a very capable and complex little girl, but I wouldn't mind betting there are times when she's glad she has a very capable father to run to. There were times I wished I had a capable father to run to."

"You have many of us now," said Severus. "And yes. She has her vulnerabilities. And her tendency to be overconfident which can hurt when it falls apart. Which it doesn't do very often, and so smarts more when it does. You'll be pleased to know that she thinks she might not win the Triwizard, and that you have a shout."

Aglaia flushed, and looked pleased.

"That's praise," she said. "Well, I _will_ be doing my best, and trying to forget that she's hardly older than Iphie. Hug Iphie for me?"

"I shall," Severus promised.

The fourteen strong Marauders from the fifteen strong class of the second years of Prince Peak were combining with the six-strong Ubiquitous Marauders of the third to produce floo powder in order to floo talk with those members of the Shorg family anticipated in the next year, and the Mordaunt twins. Convening at midnight for fire talking was a relatively easy thing for the Shorg girls, but was more of a challenge for Garnet and Galena, who had to sneak out of their respective dormitories and find a suitable fire.

"And it'll be a measure of how much they deserve to be Marauders," declared Wilhelm.

This was held to be valid enough, since although Marauding was tolerated at Prince Peak, it was not lawful to be out of bed at midnight unless sanctioned by the staff, and the teachers at the Prinzhorn were probably more vigilant than those in Hellibore's Academy.

Garnet and Galena met up and crept to the junior girls' common room, which still had a fire, and was seriously out of bounds for Garnet.

It was very exciting, and they had been sent floo powder by their clever counterparts in Prince Peak, having always believed that only the Ministry was allowed to produce it.

Whether the production of floo powder was permitted without licence was not something the Prince Peak Marauders had ever stopped to consider. If it could be made, they reckoned that it stood to reason that they might as well make it.

All parties joined conversation, and May explained how her sisters were the Purple People, and they had invited her in, and that Garnet and Galena had joined in the holidays.

"Wizzer," said Bruno, who had discovered 1920s English schoolboy stories. "Well, the Purple People can be a sub-group of the combined Marauders, and we can work together or in groups. The second have an unprecedented number."

"Some of us joined later to support Iphianira and Harry and because it seemed right," volunteered Eva. "We were planning on pulling a combined jape of setting free folded paper flying birds to sing something appropriate, will you oiks do the same in your own schools?"

"Well the worst they can do is expel us, and we're coming to you after the summer hols anyway," said Garnet. "How do we do it?"

There was a brief silence as folding flying birds was something the Prince Peak children took as simple, and the Shorg girls had learned it recently to use with finding charms, as shown by Neville, when a neighbour started taking and hiding their kit to taunt them.

Zhenga explained and demonstrated. And as they could not agree on a tune to sing, Fyra suggested 'Pony Boy' just to remind everyone how silly Dolokhov was.

The plotters returned to bed, well satisified.

It may be said that when the Prince Peak flock of singing birds made their appearance, nobody turned a hair. Severus smiled to note that they had managed part singing, if not perhaps as complex as some of the more musical groups would manage, at least the Ubiquitous Marauders had picked up something from the Musical Marauders. And the birds from the first were much decorated, having two artists in the form in the persons of Vivienne and Gudel, who were now best friends. It did the cynical Gudel no harm to have a rather romantic and dreamy friend like Vivienne, and having Gudel to look out for her was good for Vivienne too.

Neville raised an eyebrow at the determinedly purple singing birds in the hall at the free school, permitted them one circuit of the room and one repetition of the song, and then banished them into the grounds where they circled the stables inciting the broken down horses and hippogriff therein to giddyap, giddyap giddyap, whoa! Until rained upon.

Hellibores had never had such an outbreak of mischief and the staff stared in horror, except Miles Grant who smiled amiably at the head.

"It appears as though some of our horrors have been learning from their Hogwarts or Prince Peak friends and relatives during the holidays," he said.

"Dear me! Are such outbreaks of, er, phenomena normal there?" demanded Hellibore.

"Oh, quite, Engelbert. Severus only makes a fuss if the music is out of tune," said Miles. "Right is right, after all, and if the pests must use library work for mischief they ought to get it right. Shall I, er, dispose of them?"

"Please do, my dear boy," said Engelbert, who was puzzled as to how to manage this.

Miles waved to a window to open, and used his wand to waft the four birds – Garnet and Galena had managed two each – out of it, where their piping diminished gradually as they flew away.

Back in Prince Peak, because it seemed a shame to waste the singing birds, Zhenga and her cronies worked on a knotwork gate that delivered the birds directly to the Russian Ministry.

It was only a pity that the Russian ministers had no idea what the song was about, and failed to connect what they described as an attack with Dolokhov at all. The brightly decorated singing birds, doubtless carrying some foul English curse in the words they sang, were shot down by various wands.

Had the children known how much fear their innocent jape had caused they would have been outraged, though Severus did decide not to enlighten them with regards to the effect they had had when he received a message that his attack had failed.

Severus took great pleasure, having heard of the nature of the 'attack' in telling the Russian Prime Minister that it was not an attack but merely an attempt by some of his children to cheer up the Russian ministry so that they might feel that they were supported against the evil Necromancer.

As the Russian Ministry was as much in denial about Prince Alksandr as once the English Ministry been about Voldemort, this left the Russian Prime Minister spluttering.

Severus left them to it.

The Musical Marauders had felt the two little new lives inside Agata and were particularly solicitous towards her, until she summoned them to her office and told them that she was not made of bone china, and would they please stop being under foot summoning cushions for her feet. They all hugged her and kissed her and promised not to be a nuisance.

"And we will love to play with babies," said Bronislava. "You're the only real mother I've ever had, so they will be siblings for me as for Sigismund."

Agata hugged the little girl. The Frolik family was not a pleasant one, and that Jaromir and Bronislava had broken away was all to the good. And one day Bronislava would be Agata's daughter in law.

"We have a very complex family here, but we love you, Aunt Agata," said Beremud. The Musical Marauders felt a proprietary claim on Agata and Saxdred!

"You are brats. Now run along!" demanded Agata.

They ran, pausing only to dos-a-dos with a couple of the suits of armour who had been unwilling to give up dancing after Christmas, and had taken up square dancing as well as ballroom.

They went to check on the rhododendron mare, who was blooming in more ways than one, and they retired to the library to look up equine obstetrics.

"I should think she'll put it out as a side shoot and we'll have to prune it away," said Lindhardt.

"That might be interesting," said Zoltan, with heavy irony. "We'll need to make sure she's fully ready. Had you noticed that the new growth has yew leaves and rhododendron flowers?"

"Oh well, it'll be a botanical curiosity," said Sigismund.

The feral desk was fascinated by the Rhododendron mare and sat broodingly, watching her.

"I'm glad we gave the stallion the snip so he won't do this again," said Corneliu. "It's interesting, but somehow it smacks of illegal creature creation, and I don't want to end up in Nurmengard sort of by accident."

"Well, it's not as though we bred it; we only provided a bit of relief for our stallion, and it was more … successful than we intended," said Bronislava. "And to be honest, I vote that we turn both of them into real horses because it will be easier to deal with."

She was gazed upon with deep respect by the boys.

"This is why we need a girl in our group," said Beryx. "Keeps us down to earth and practical. Of course it will be better if she's a real mare in foal."

They proceeded to chant, and handed over Rhoda, as they called the mare, to the newly arrived goblin grooms.

"We brought her to school early, my brother and I, and she's been in pasture," said Sigismund.

It was not far out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Please, Gnadige Fraulein, can it be that you would find it convenient to have a servant?" the goblin boy stood, cap in hand, to address Magda Wiesel, one of the more frequent visitors to the newly-installed stables. Magda looked at her friend and fellow Marauder, Klarisza Toth, who was with her, in some consternation.

"We don't have servants at school, you know," said Magda.

"The girls who like horses in the second year have an elf," said the boy.

"Well, yes, but Wennie is here for her own protection, not as Valda's servant," said Klarisza, "and she isn't really expected to do any servant sort of things."

"And moreover, why on earth would you want to be a servant?" asked Magda.

The boy twisted his cap between his hands.

"I was hoping to gain some education by overhearing things," he muttered.

The girls stared.

"But then, if you want education, why are you not in Jade and Wulf's free school?" asked Klarisza. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Chillic gan Peric," said the boy, "and my father says I must earn my way, and that going to school is a waste of time."

"Why, how foolish!" said Magda. "Education can give you a much better job so you can earn more."

"Yes, Gnadige Fraulein, so I thought, but Da doesn't see it; [] all he sees is that I get a few more knuts for being his assistant."

"This is terrible!" cried Magda.

"Yes, but don't let's leap in with both feet," said Klarisza. "Let's take Chillic and collect Ivaylo, and go and tell the Kaiserin, and ask her to sort it out for him to go to school, because there'll be hell to pay if we try to just sneak Chillic into classes. Fredegonda so will raise the roof and go to the papers and other sneaky things like that."

Chillic found himself swept up, and Ivaylo listened to the rather muddled story from his friends.

"The Kaiserin can fix it," he said. "And what's more, Marauders can always chip in to pay for whatever he earns at the moment so his father doesn't cut up about it."

"I was thinking on the same lines," said Klarisza.

"I was thinking on the lines of threatening his father," said Magda.

"Yes, Mags, but you lead with your chin, the way you ride," said Ivaylo.

Agata unravelled the story, told mostly by her young cousin, Klarisza, who was less in awe of Aunt Agata than the other two.

"A boy who wants education should be at school," the headmistress agreed. "Well, Chillic, would you like me to sponsor you, and see that your father is paid for your time, and to be spirited off as soon as possible?"

"Yes please, Ma'am, before he beats me again for having stupid ideas," said Chillic.

Agata sighed.

For most goblins, having a secure job as a groom to a prominent wizarding family, or here, to the school, was about the pinnacle of their ambition, and doubtless Peric considered that he was doing his son a favour in discouraging such flights of fancy, in a situation where a position was more or less hereditary.

Chillic departed under the escort of Jade later that afternoon, and Agata sent for Peric, and proceeded to overawe and browbeat him with kindness.

Peric scarcely had time to draw breath to protest that his son had been wrested from him without a by your leave, in being told that the head was sorrowful that he had neglected to let her know that he had dependents who would, of course, receive a schooling in order to make them better able to serve when they were adult, and that naturally he would receive a grant to cover the time his son would have been giving to him as an assistant.

He found himself rather unwillingly telling the headmistress that he did have other children, a daughter of thirteen and several younger ones.

Agata smiled austerely, and informed him that his older daughter would need to go a year younger than her chronological age, and that the others would enter school as they became old enough.

"But Amala is looking after the younger ones!" protested Peric.

"Ah? Then I will make sure they receive care too, so she does not lose out, and you will not have to have anything to do with them except in the holidays," said Agata.

Small Hunder, and his sisters Gelvra and Gartha would thrive better in a situation where they were expected to become scholars.

Peric did not have anything to do with his children by choice, other than ordering Chillic about, so he was not entirely unhappy, and Jade visited again to remove Amala and her siblings.

"We aren't orphans," protested Amala.

"No, but the little ones will be better cared for in the orphanage while you learn," said Jade. " _My_ orphanage is well run and they'll be getting more lessons than if they were in an expensive Charm School that some of the toffs send their children to. And you can go see them at the weekends, and they will come up to ride on weekends too, if they like."

Amala decided to reserve judgement and cuff Chillic if this all turned out to be a mistake; she was fairly certain that between them they could rescue the younger ones and run away if it was a bad place.

As the younger children were delivered first, where they were embraced – _embraced!_ – by a human woman, and led off to join in what looked like some very jolly games, and quidditch for Hunder, as the oldest, Amala decided that maybe Chillic did not need cuffing.

Amala found herself being cheerfully greeted by a group of children of mixed race and sex, and greeted with as much cordiality by the humans as the goblins, and discovered in passing that even half-goblins were not seen as lesser beings, in the explanations about the teachers. And human teachers were married to goblin and part goblin teachers, and this was respectable.

Amala decided to lie low and say very little whilst she assimilated what was 'good' and what was 'bad', because being in school had to beat being married off to one of the other grooms at Durmstrang, who was already laying hands on her. It was definitely an improvement in her situation.

Chillic had walked into the class and announced that he would need some help to settle down, but that he had been sent by Marauders, and they said that the Free School also had Marauders, and how did one become one?

The ten Marauders in the year told him at the tops of their voices, and as one of them was an elf, two of them were humans, and the rest goblins, Chillic reckoned that the way the Marauders in Durmstrang had acted must be a Marauder thing. He did however also blink slightly when introduced to the concept that part goblins were respectable too.

"My da says half goblins are abominations," he said, tentatively.

"Your da also said you didn't need education," said Briht.

"And we have a whole mix in Marauding, including some of the teachers," said Vao. "And most of them are respectably married. And the Heads have a half goblin daughter who's adopted, and one of the prefects is marrying a man who has adopted the children of a dependent who's in prison and they are half goblin, so it's a lot of crap, and I had one of my hunches that Chillic is a good man, and we should have him and educate out his da's silly notions."

"I didn't say I agreed with him, but I've never met any half goblins," said Chillic.

"Well you will," said Madelgarde. "It really doesn't matter. I'm pure blood, Zorica is half muggle, and Lelli is a family elf who is now free and a scholar, and she's one of the cleverest, so please don't be racist about elves either."

"I ain't never met any elves neither," shrugged Chillic, "'Cept the one who goes around with some of the second years at Durmstrang, and she's pretty bossy."

"Oh, she's a Marauder," said Alith. "You'll pick it up. Like the lessons; we'll all help."

Chillic grinned; he reckoned he would soon settle in.

The students in the Russian school had settled down back into their routine, having come to terms with the fact that their English teachers were neither monsters, nor were they lax and ineffective. The idea that they were lax had been overcome by a number of quite stiff detentions, following a brief refusal to do anything that Lynx said. Lynx might be easy going, and fond of giggling, but class discipline was class discipline and the half dozen refuseniks had found themselves spending the rest of the lesson as woodlice, and were then recalled to detention to repeat the lesson. This had necessitated porting three of them into the classroom with a chant, gluing them to their chairs, and when they refused to write, gluing their fingers to pens enchanted to write to dictation.

The pens wrote faster than the students involved, and it may be said that the punishment was harsher for that fact.

"And of course, it's no real skin off my nose if you can't be bothered to learn, and go into the world as stupid little ignoramuses with no qualifications," said Lynx, "But I will be obeyed. In future, you will take the notes, and if the assignments you return are inadequate, well, the low mark that reflects that will go on your school record for any future employer to see, and you will fail your exams, if indeed I, or any of the other staff consider it worth while entering failures into exams. If you fail your lower level exams, you will not, of course, be permitted to continue into the higher classes."

The six boys were in the fourth year, and if exams were not of immediate importance, they knew that they would be taking them in the following year. And it had not occurred to them that poor coursework might be viewed by prospective employers!

Had not Lynx been so offhand they might still have rebelled, learning on the sly and hoping to take exams elsewhere as external students; but they were stung by the thought that she didn't care.

Arkadi Oryolov, the ringleader, was not about to jeopardise his career, and the others did what he ordered.

Hence he was somewhat torn when he received an owl carrying a letter from his father. Arkadi was a proud, stiff-necked boy, who believed that women were inferior, but that an educated woman educated her children, and had been outraged that a married woman should neglect her duties to teach. However, the small Hawke Malfoy infants seemed to display no neglect, and played happily in a corner while their mother taught, and Madam Black-Weasley, as Lynx was when teaching, was actually a good teacher, who made Enchanting a lot more interesting than it had been under the previous teacher, who taught enchantments by rote. Lynx taught how enchantments were an intermediate stage between charms and ritual magic, in embedding a ritual into a formula that anyone not actually a squib or a muggle should be able to use, and that the items so enchanted should work equally well for a squib or a muggle, or someone of no magical education. The fourth were working towards enchanting some wizarding tents, water-summoning faucets and bluebell-flame cookstoves, all capable of being activated by code words, turning a handle or touching a button. Arkadi, who was moderately talented, had managed to make a faucet that produced hot and cold on command, and was working on making it able to mix the two. He was looking forward to camping for the weekend in equipment the class had enchanted for themselves.

It may be said that Lynx occasionally wandered past what was required at the academic level the children were supposed to have attained, but Lynx was a believer in making lessons fun. And this was the first time she had taught enchantment, being the only one of the makeshift teachers who had it to an 'O' grade.

Hence, Arkadi Oryolov approached Hawke.

"I don't know what to do about this, sir," he said, his tone truculent, but his bearing at least respectful. Hawke had no problems in identifying the attitude of someone who was becoming interested in doing what he was supposed to do despite himself. He had worn similar shoes in his own time at school, before he had become Abrax's twin. He took the letter held out by Arkadi, and read it.

It exhorted Arkadi and his friends to give aid to the return of their rightful headmaster and those who would support him.

"Well, Gospodin Oryolov, what would you like to do about it?" asked Hawke.

"I would like to write to my father that we are better off without the Durak and that I am learning more in the last term than we have learned in the last two years," blurted out Arkadi.

"Well, I will be pleased to receive a visit from your father, should he wish to come and see how well you are doing, as compared to previous years," said Hawke. "And if you would like to add my invitation to your own comments, perhaps we shall be able to show your father that the Durak – dear me, that _is_ going to stick – was not actually much good for the school. After all, what would you do if you had a little sister or brother who was a squib?"

Arkadi flushed.

"I expect Papa would have a squib child adopted by muggles or farmed out to servants," he said.

"But not killed out of hand."

"No, sir; squibs can also serve."

"Then perhaps you might wish to mention something about that, too," said Hawke.

Arkadi nodded.

"I think some of the others got letters that are much the same," he said.

"Well, I am sure you will make sure that none of your set are stupid," said Hawke. "If the Durak brings in too large a force for us to be gentle, I'm afraid some of the invaders are going to die. It's in the interests of their children not to let this happen."

"Yes, sir," said Arkadi, who believed Hawke!

Hawke made an announcement to the school.

"Those of you who have received letters from your parents regarding replacing me with the Durak should think long and hard about whether you are doing better now than you have ever done under him. If you decide that your education was better with Dolokhov in charge, then by all means support your parents, but bear in mind that when we fight off the attack, people are likely to be killed. This might include your parents. I will, of course, expel anyone who joins such an attack. I would strongly advise writing to your parents telling them that this course of action is ill-advised. You have been warned."

"Aglaia showed me how to embed a compulsion in the one I wrote back to mine," said Palugina. "Assuming they read it, they will have written to him telling him not to be so ridiculous and will be staying at home."

"Moderately enterprising," said Hawke. "I take it you were afraid they might feel they had to?"

"Yes," said Palugina. "And they aren't bad parents, considering."

"Better than some, then," said Hawke.

"I didn't think you'd be mucking about with any who came in with violence in mind," said Aglaia. "A compulsion seemed about the best way to do it, and if Lilith can do it, I figured I ought to be able to."

"Indeed, and I wouldn't mind looking over your draft to check," said Hawke. "I'm sure you've done it perfectly well, as you are pretty efficient, but I'd like to check it."

Aglaia nodded.

"I was going to mention it to you this evening, sir," she said.

"Well, well, I didn't think you were keeping it from me deliberately, I just came across the Durak's silly ideas from another source," said Hawke.

It may be said that a few people came to Aglaia to ask her how to embed compulsions to stay away. Enough of the school had seen the calm handling of the other teachers by Hawke and the others not to want their parents turned to stone at best, or killed at worst, whatever they thought of people who encouraged mudbloods and goblins. The English and their allies were sufficiently formidable not to want to have their parents face them.

Hawke had a pretty good idea who would be encouraging and supporting their parents in joining with Dolokhov, and had drawn up a number of papers of expulsion which, when served, acted as portkeys directly to their own homes, being one of the relatively rare number of people in the world with a NEWT in geomancy, even if he never was as good at it as Abrax. It would prevent children from being mixed up in the fighting, anyway.

He forgot that Aglaia and friends would be helping to defend, and that they counted as technical children, at least if some of those about to be expelled did, and chose to ignore that he and the New Marauders had been fighting Huorns and dark wizards from their second year at school.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The attack, when it came, was preceded by dementors, and the dementors hit the fey exclusion line and bounced.

"You kill them like this," said Zlatko, to his group of volunteers, and proceeded to demonstrate the lightning spell. Sergei Motylek was one of his younger volunteers, and Zlatko was wondering whether Marauding was worth introducing to Russia. If his wives would join him, he might even consider relieving Hawke as headmaster on a long term basis.

It seemed that Dolokhov, who had gone to Durmstrang, had probably learned his dark arts and use of dementors from the same instructor as Prince Gerhardt; it appeared that perceived wisdom was to send in dementors, and then follow at a safe distance, perhaps having reversed the summoning on them to send them back, to mop up a demoralised enemy.

It had, according to Severus, always seemed to come as a shock to the Sturmzauberen that the enemy was never demoralised and there wasn't much of the summoned dementors to send back.

"It's what I'm trying to tell you, kid, they've been totally blown away," murmured Zlatko, who had seen the film now.

"Isn't that my line?" asked Hawke.

"You're too respectable to be Han Solo," said Zlatko.

"Bite your tongue!" declared Hawke.

Zlatko laughed.

"I must say, I used to wonder why the English schoolchildren found fighting dark wizards so much fun; but it's not the fighting, it's the camaraderie."

"It is, and without it, the fight would be terrifying. I have to say it was pretty scary when we were fighting Voldemort, and being no older than Gospodin Motylek; but we were just mad at him for invading our school," said Hawke. "It's a cheek."

"Be fair, we sort of took it away from the Durak first," said Mafalda.

"Well, only because he tried to kill a relative of one of his own," said Lynx. "We were going to leave them to fester in admiring their own pure blood, but that was beyond the pale."

"And because Aglaia is tied by unbreakable vow to complete the contest, and therefore have a school, or we might have left it to fall apart," said Zlatka. "You Russians, you wouldn't be here if you didn't think it right."

"I think we have been much lied to by the Durak," said Leesitsa, "And I have no intention of letting him continue to lie to my countrymen. We are the voice of the Cheestykrovy School as past pupils who have learned where the lies are. And I believe it is the English idiom to say 'bags us Dolokhov, Domna and me.'

"Excellent English idiom," said Hawke. "So noted, the Durak has been baggsed. And they're coming in, so you kids hoppit and let us handle it."

The attack was not the professional affair that old hands would have recognised, though Hawke only really had experience as a naughty and truanting lower school fighter, Zlatko and Zlatka had never faced a full on assault, and Domna and Leesitsa had only seen the attack of the fey, ably handled by Severus. Mafalda had seen the invasion of her school, but only Lynx had fought off attacks of storm wizards.

Perhaps it was why Mafalda briefly froze when a snarling wizard on a broom levelled his wand at her, the memory of the dreadful time when Connie Hardbroom had stolen away with the half dozen most courageous first years. Whatever it was that caused the freeze almost cost her dear, and she screamed as the cutting spell sliced across her body.

Aglaia was there with a wand, instinctively using what she knew best to turn the broom of the attacker into a rather sudden portkey to the middle of the Lake of Baikal. And then she was slitting her palm open and applying it to Mafalda's midriff, drawing runes in the air with her wand with the other hand, and drawing knotwork in the air to pull the wound together. And the bloodgroup gave power.

"Ooooh!" said Mafalda. "All these years I missed out on because I was too proud to ask to join!"

"You and me both," said Aglaia, "Not that I even knew it was worth asking. Are you alive?"

"Alive and mad at them," said Mafalda. "Where did he go?"

"Lake Baikal; it was the best I could do," said Aglaia.

"Well he won't be here again in a hurry," said Mafalda.

She loosed off a series of spells and three wizards plummeted as their brooms suddenly became feather dusters.

"Looks like they forgot their featherlight and hovering charms," said Aglaia.

"If they ever bothered to learn them," said Mafalda.

"I'd say it was a little late to learn now," said Aglaia.

"Yup," said Mafalda as the faint sound of the first wizard landing on the mountainside floated up to the defenders.

"Does bouncing count?" asked Aglaia.

"Not hardly," said Mafalda.

Hawke smiled grimly that his troops had good morale. It had been touch and go there, but Aglaia had done the right thing, and he had not had to scream for Severus. The rest of the blood group was ready and able, but it would be good for the Russian children to see that their new teachers could defend them from attack.

Several of the Russian children were wrapped in the purple bonds of the _incarcerous_ spell, and they were the ones Hawke had expected to be trouble. And young Arkadi Oryolov was hurling jinxes and abuse at attacking wizards, despite having been told to retire with the rest.

Hawke paused long enough to give him a two fingered cuff.

"Bad youth, you were told to get to safety. If you must be a pest, watch my back for me."

"Yessir!" Arkadi beamed. He'd been told off but given a position of honour in the same sentence.

Hawke was fairly certain that watching his back would at least be a relatively safe position; he had a diffusion grid up, and a selection of wards drawn on his skin by Zlatko and Zlatka, who had shared how they had used these against the Russian attack on Durmstrang. And without the wards and the diffusion grids there might have been deaths of the defenders, and any children daft enough to stick their heads above the parapet, as that little idiot Motylek was doing.

"Stay here and fire at that Durak!" Hawke yelled to Arkadi, and leaped over the parapet to dive for where Sergei Motylek had found a window ledge to perch on to fire spells and where Dolokhov was aiming. Arkadi's spell did little to hurt Dolokhov, but it distracted him enough that he missed young Motylek, and hit only the windowsill, which crumbled.

Hawke caught the boy as he fell, and flew back up to the parapet.

"Now who's the durak?" he said, snappishly, reflecting that now he understood why Severus had sometimes been rather on edge.

"Oh thank you sir, I didn't know it was possible to fly without a broom!" said Sergei, worshipfully.

"Hush. According to the text book it isn't," Hawke told him. "But anything Voldemort could do, we could do better."

"Oh sir!" Palugina Motyleka had run over.

"Cuff your brat of a brother and tell him not to give me any more grey hairs," said Hawke. "Fedya! Aglaia! Watch out for Domna and Leesitsa, keep stray bandits off their backs!"

Domna and Leesitsa, seeing Dolokhov, and realising that he was happy to attack other children, had grabbed brooms of their own and were setting off after him.

The rest of the staff concentrated on the other attackers, ceding the right to take out the leader to those who had been most lied to by him.

And as so often happened, it was suddenly over, and the attackers were bound, turned to stone, or smashed on the rocks below, some of them in many stone shards. Dolokhov was one of these. Of the children about to be sent home, many of them would be without one of their parents. They had been warned.

Hawke said so to the group of bound youngsters.

"I did warn you. I did not want to bring in outsiders to be certain of a bloodless victory. Your parents learned the hard way, as the Deatheaters in Britain learned. Go home, and if I ever see any of you again it will be too soon. You are most of you adults or near adults, but I will not act against you. You have been lied to. Live quietly and this can be forgotten. Move again against the school or other schools, and you, too will learn the consequences. Here are your papers of expulsion which will take you home. I hope I don't hear of any of you ever again."

"They will make trouble, some of them," said Fedya.

"Then they will come as adults against children and will die," said Zlatko. "Even as we dealt with a group put together by several who had been expelled from Durmstrang. The bullying and brainwashing stops here."

Hawke and Lynx went down to pick up enough pieces of Dolokhov to glue together to prove that he was no more, and Hawke opened a floo connection to Prince Aleksandr.

"Look here, Aleksandr, old boy, did you want the broken bits of statuary formerly known as Dolokhov?" drawled Hawke. "He's not very decorative. But you might like a reminder that attacking schools with any kind of English education is not a good idea."

"I will talk to Snape," said the necromancer. "Ask him to come to the fire."

"Snape? Well if you want to talk to Severus, I expect he's in Prince Peak; nothing to do with us, you know," said Hawke.

Aleksandr stared.

"Do you mean you have defeated Dolokhov's ill-conceived conceit without Snape?"

"Well, obviously; why would he bother with a two kopek affair like that? Dolokhov only assembled a couple of dozen followers, hardly worth bothering a busy man like him over. After all, there were seven of us adults there, and I for one have fought Voldemort, who wasn't an amateur like your people. I just wanted to let you know that Dolokhov's idea of being entertaining was such a bore. Don't let it happen again."

"I warned him against any attack; it was nothing to do with me," said the necromancer.

"Oh, of course," smiled Hawke. His smile made it quite clear that he would outwardly accept that, but that he knew fine well that Aleksandr was wondering if Dolokhov might succeed, and if so, would have capitalised on it. "I am glad that you have learned not to go against the English. Or the Germans. And I believe you have discovered that the French know how to take advice too. Stop interfering. It's advice I'm told that Gerhardt Grindelwald did not take, and he died. I know that might not inconvenience a necromancer as much, but nevertheless, take a friendly warning. The next time someone comes into your bedroom, it might not be with flowers."

Hawke decided that it might be as well to make sure that Aleksandr blamed someone for the flowers, and did not light upon Lilith's unique arrival at the Triwizard opening ceremony.

"Your magic is extremely competent," said the necromancer, grudgingly.

Hawke bowed.

"I was one of Harry Potter's bodyguard, and one of Sev Snape's first disciples; like the headmaster of Hogwarts, and the head of the London School," he said. "Don't forget it."

That, too, should make sure that neither David nor Neville had any trouble. True, this racist would probably not consider it worthwhile attacking the London free school, but just in case…

"I will not forget."

Aleksandr was a man who had been given a taste of fear, and he looked upon Hawke with respect as well as loathing.

Hawke smiled, grimly.

Lilith's hunch was playing off; they had room to breathe.

Mihail Vasylovitch Solvejov, Great Snake, and plain Mischa to his friends, was glad that he had received some advice and help from Severus and sundry Marauders. The exclusion lines against the fey and undead had held against a few testing incursions, and the exclusion line against ritual sendings, which had been made one way only, had glowed a few times. Mischa had no idea that the Ubiquitous Marauders had borrowed a concept used by Zlatko, and had added a twist, that Severus had not prevented them from doing, to reflect back anything cast, with as much power as was put into it.

There were a number of former Whitesnakes who had shuffled off this mortal coil in much oily smoke and heat, leaving nothing but their shadows burned into the walls of their ritual rooms. The children were unaware of this, and Severus saw no need to enlighten them that this was likely to be the result, since anyone performing such ritual were fondly hoping that the shadow burned onto the wall would be that of Mischa Solvejov.

All in all, it looked as though both the exams and the final test of the Triwizard, as well as the shake ups in the Order of the Dragon, might just proceed without interruption. Sometimes the application of fear had its uses.

The youngest of the blooded in Durmstrang, who also deigned to involve the three hopeful Marauders of the first year, decided it was about time for a jape, and one which, for a change, did not involve horses or riding. Valda suggested skating, which as the temperature was well up in the seventies, in a continental early summer, this was voted an excellent idea.

The great hall consequently became a skating rink, and the youngsters had much hilarious fun, entirely ignoring bruises from tumbles, or being accidentally roughhoused by one of the animate suits of armour sliding on their metal feet. Valda took the corvus-helmed one onto the floor and had managed to teach it to make a double axel, which without skates was no mean feat. They were only interrupted by Salvia Pippin, who came into the room at speed, and ended up flailing with more speed than she had ever expected until caught and steadied by Ilarion.

"Ice skating? Whatever next," said Salvia, promptly transfiguring her shoes into skates to exit in a more dignified manner, and thence to spread the word that the brats were skating in the great hall, and anyone who wanted to avoid an ice dance with either the suits of armour, or the feral desk, which was enjoying sliding, should stay away.

Attila and Cacilia went to try out the ice, and to supervise in a discreet fashion, which did tend to end the more raucous hilarity of some of the more turbulent of the juniors. It was harder to act the goat when there were grown-ups there, and all attempts to barge the suits of armour or trip the desk stopped. The Marauders had not interfered, trusting the constructs to stand up for themselves, and they had laughed and pointed at Kunegunda, laid across the lap of one of the suits of armour, having her bottom well spanked with the flat of his sword. Kunegunda had cried real tears of humiliation and pain. The consensus of the Marauders had been that she shouldn't barge anyone she wasn't prepared to take on in a fight.

Attila and Cacilia had come in on the tail end of this, and Kunegunda had almost run to them to tell tales; but she had a horrid feeling that the truth would out about how she had tried to trip the suit of armour because it had been animated by Marauders.

Cacilia meanwhile praised Valda for her patient teaching of the corvus-helmed one, and took him for a spin round the ice. And Valda wondered how she could ever have disliked anyone so sweet as Frau Von Freyer! She watched with intent to learn, as Valda loved skating, but acknowledged that Cacilia knew more than she!

And half an hour before Kaffee und Kuchen, Attila blew a whistle, and told the skaters to clear the ice as the ice was about to clear.

It had been an enjoyable Saturday afternoon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"I suppose it's too late to pull a jape now," moaned Richard Snape.

"No it isn't," said Andy Gardiner. "It's too late to pull one on the school because of exams, but it doesn't prevent us pulling one on the examiners. And on Lucius in particular just because, and he'll be here early for the chanting."

"It's a very good point," approved Drogo, "and he's dad to Varjak and me, so he can't get too waxy."

"And Uncle Lucius to most of the rest of us," agreed Richard. "Any ideas, oh mighty Yankee?"

"Well, with his involvement in the Egyptian thing, we could cure him of not being Imhotep," said Andy.

"Imhotep as in the magician, priest, engineer and sometime posey git, or Imhotep as in the mummy from the muggle film?" asked Richard.

"Puh-lease!" said Andy. "This is Lucius we're talking about: linen kilt nicely starched, faience, gold and lapis collar, starched blue and white hair-covering, eyeliner, the works."

"Dad'd actually manage to look cool like that," opined Varjak.

"He might even be persuaded to wear it until he'd done the examining," said Richard. "We can curse the great door in and tailor it specifically so Lucius is the only person it catches, with the power of twenty-three factorial. He'll be impressed by that too."

"We can do that? Great!" said Andy. "And have it reverse it when he's on his way out."

"That'd work," said Drogo.

Teddy grinned.

"And he might even credit it towards our own chanting OWL one day," he said.

"We could all pass it at 'O' anyway," said Richard.

They paused, and looked at each other.

"I'll go put our names in for it," said Lucy. "Before we get cold feet. Uncle Lucius is the works."

"And will probably insist we're examined by Chris or Nils, but that's ok," said Richard. "Go, Lucy; Fido won't mind. And then we can claim that jinking Lucius was practice."

"Can we pass it?" worried Glasbinn.

"Standing on our heads drinking erumpant urine through a straw," asseverated Drogo. "Haven't most of us been chanting since we could pronounce enough words to get somewhere?"

"I haven't," said Njorjala. "Nor has Lucy."

"Yeah, but you're fast," said Drogo. "Piece of piss."

It may be said that David was a trifle taken aback to have nine entrants from the second year for the Chanting OWL, but he shrugged. Most of them were Snapes, Malfoys or connections, and they had probably picked up more Chanting preschool and in the holidays than many applicants for NEWT, never mind OWL. It was whether they could sustain a chant for an hour which might be in question; their theory might be worded childishly but was almost certainly quite sufficient, and … well, they ran every morning, and were capable of screaming effectively throughout quidditch matches, so probably that was a fruitless worry.

And if they didn't pass or, more likely, only got E grade, they could retake another year.

The research taught the Hunting Marauders a lot of Ancient Egyptian runes too, but after a brief argument in which Richard's ears walked like Egyptians about the room, they decided not to take Ancient Runes as a group.

"We can do that next year," said Drogo. "Along with a couple of others."

This was reckoned sensible, and gave them a year to argue about which OWLs to take two years early so that they could cover all of them by the time they were old enough to take NEWTs.

Lucius blew in early for the chanting exam, accompanied by Nils, who had volunteered to test Lucius' own offspring. He glanced down at his garb, looked at Nils, and then ran his wand around the offending doorway.

"Well, well, a person specific curse," said Lucius. "Who on earth pulled that off? Lilith and Sextus are too old."

The giggling Hunting Marauders, who had been on the watch for him, emerged.

"We did," said Richard.

"I did wonder if you were all old enough to take Chanting so young, objection withdrawn," said Lucius, twitching his head-dress to a rakish angle and adjusting his kilt to snap regally back and forth.

"Well, I am actually gobsmacked," said Nils.

Gennar was also taking the OWL, along with all the Stripy Marauders except Lilith, who had taken it long since, and Adam, who was learning practical chanting, but had been afraid of adding another qualification to his rapidly caught up core curriculum. However as he had been learning, he made a snap decision and asked to be entered.

Lucius declared an interest in Gennar and Adam, Andy and Glasbinn, as he sponsored Adam, Andy and Glasbinn, as well as in Drogo and Varjak. Nils examined these six as a group separately, and then Lucius tested Jayashree, Venus, Sextus, Richard, Teddy, Njorjala, Lucy and Rose. The circle in the great hall was unlikely to ever become infested with geckos, and Lucius remarked ruefully to David that the scamps of Hunting Marauders were significantly more competent than some NEWT and ZH students he was examining.

The NEWT exam involved Zajala, so Lucius left that entirely to Nils, and tried not to look too proud of Zajala as she undid the curse on a very nasty piece of bijouterie that Hawke had uncovered in the Cheestykrova Schola, which if touched by someone not attuned to it stuck to the hand and heated up until all the flesh was burned away. As anti-theft devices went, it was a little over the top, and undoing the curse was probably post NEWT in scope. What pleased Lucius more was that in undoing the curse, Zajala added another to have the Fabergé egg involved shout "Help! Help! I'm being stolen!"

Equally, it could attune to the hands of several people who could touch it with impunity. Zajala was actually rather good, and very good at lateral thinking.

This, of course, was why she and Nigel would be running some of Lucius' businesses for him. Nigel was not taking anything like as many qualifications as Zajala, but it didn't matter; he had what it took, now, and that didn't need qualifications to prove it. Any more than it mattered that Grace had left school after OWLs because she knew what she needed to know, and could read further if she wanted to.

The other test was to exclude minor fey, and Nils asked nicely if a non fatal solution might be found, in case Zajala became over-enthusiastic and exploded his pixies. Zajala merely turned them into butterflies as they hit her line.

Lucius was almost sorry to return through the front door, and lose his Egyptian finery; he had enjoyed the covert purring from the older girls over his shapely calves and muscled chest and arms. But then, Lucius was like that. And it would never do to be an object for purring over in Beauxbatons; the thought was terrifying.

There were nine students taking the ELF in chanting in Beauxbatons, the accelerator class, which was Pharamond, Jean-Luc, Abelard, and out of the Blood Group, Medé and Salomé in the _terminale_ , or what Lucius thought of as the upper sixth; three from the _premiere_ who had taken the ELM at the proper age the year before, and had voted to push on with the accelerator classes, and Philomène, who was taking ELMs in other subjects.

Lucius noted that Salomé chose to position herself so she was neither next to nor opposite Pharamond nor Philomène as they looked over the notes of their tasks. Lucius picked up that there were a few tensions here. Pharamond's feelings towards her were between compassion and irritation, so presumably the girl had had a crush on him and had made a fool of herself.

Salomé had mostly settled down but still felt some constraints with Pharamond and his fiancée. It was not, at least, going to be as hard as if they were chanting together in a circle as for the OWL the previous year. The French examination board now recognised the exam, was too lazy to set their own and merely translated the English OWL and NEWT, but now referred to them as ELM and ELF.

Lucius had raided the French ministry for cursed items, deemed too difficult to uncurse, and let the students loose on them. He had a ministry man overseeing the exam, because of the dangers of such things, and the man kept muttering "Oh la la!" under his breath as each of the items too difficult to uncurse was satisfactorily unravelled by the disciples of Darryl, who were also quite impressed by Desolina, and worked hard for her.

"Never will I doubt chanting again, never," said the ministry man. "We have more items…"

"There'll doubtless be more exam students next year," said Lucius, cheerfully. None of the French students had done more to the pixies than exclude them, so that was hardly exciting, but at least would not cause problems in having to find more.

The ELM students were a little more pedestrian, being those who had not elected to join the accelerator class, but a couple of them, Paul L'Arbre and Duran Tiefstern, an Austrian lad, made a better showing, and after her poor start, Adriana Galbeni showed that she could buckle down to work, especially as she found Desolina less intimidating than the frankly scornful Darryl.

There would be no ELF students next year, since all those with an interest had already taken it one or two years young. However, hopefully there would be a better showing at ELM with a few Marauders, and a selection in the ECC.

"I think you are suffering a bit from Darrylitis, Mademoiselle Uccello," said Lucius. "He's an enthusiast, and either his students have come on further than you might expect, or they have irritated him and he has found them too tiresome to bother with, as it was a voluntary class for the older ones."

"Yes, but he has taught those older ones more than I can teach them," said Desolina.

"And taught them how to learn for themselves," said Lucius. "Don't feel bad, the top chanters are Marauders, and it shows."

"Yes, Marauders always push themselves," said Desolina. "I have no complaints with the younger classes. I think it was a shock for the older ones to consider giving up lunch times. Madame Maxime has instituted longer working hours, and that has caused some outrage."

"Not before time," said Lucius. "I imagine, like Darryl, you were scandalised."

"I was," said Desolina. "I was not certain I liked being at Durmstrang until the last few years, but I am glad my parents chose to send me to a school where academic attainment has always been taken seriously, if not always approached well."

"I am glad that Beauxbatons is coming into line with other educational establishments," said Lucius.

The NEWT students at Prince Peak were a large class of nine, consisting of Fred, Flo, George, AHHa, Julian, Sandalla, Svetlana, Silvina and Sara. Lucius did not envision any problems with any of them, and they were dealing with a few more cursed items out of the Cheestykrovy Schola attics. The Pixies tended to end up engulfed as Lucius had asked for non lethal solutions; except with AHHa, who had his turned into stone, and Silvina who sang, and caused hers to dance wildly for two minutes and then go catatonic. Fortunately she had a song to counter this effect.

And the OWL students consisted of all sixteen in the class, as the children of Prince Peak took the subject revived by their headmaster very seriously indeed. Geckos were unlikely to overrun the Prinzhorn after they had chanted in two groups of eight.

In the Schloss Adler, only Magda, Biirta and Gunnar were taking the ZH, and Lucius had asked Nils to go and examine there, as he had an interest – more than an interest – in Biirta.

Nils had Quidditch contacts and collected up some cursed sports equipment to use, which was dealt with in short order by the three, even if Magda took a little longer than the other two. Their pixies were bound by Gunnar, bound and tickled by Biirta, and merely excluded by Magda. There were only two ZP students this year too, Reiner Kurtz and Zaly Czerny, less easy for the hour long chant to be in a small group, but that was the way it went.

Lucius went to Durmstrang as Nils was at Schloss Adler, to test the Eulenspiegel twins and Yorick at ZH, and Vighard joining the ZP students in a subject he was rapidly trying to catch up. The chanters in the fifth were, predictably the Marauders, and Arkadi Rasputin. With Vighard, this made six, a nice number to chant, and quite equal to excluding all geckos. The ZH students had items that had turned up in the German ministry to decurse, and none of them had any trouble. Their pixies, for whose lives Lucius also interceded, were turned into doxies by Xanthippe, into fairies by Xanthe and were made to walk like Egyptians by Yorick, having recalled an earlier Marauder jape. Lucius went home to share with his ladies the excitement of having been temporarily Imhotep, and the poor prunery of the French ministry.

Chanting being over, the other exams crept up inexorably, and the examiners duly arrived to prepare for the usual round of exams.

Zajala was one of a rarefied few to be taking Ancient Runes, and Zephyra was another. The three passages were in Egyptian Hieroglyphs, cuneiform and Ogham, and the passages were concerned with farming. As well as the translation the exam asked for a brief commentary on the styles of farming indicated by the choices of words in the separate texts. As the Hieroglyphs had referred to the Inundation, the vital nature of the Nile to irrigate was quite clear, and Zephyra translated that the cataracts had to be checked periodically to see that they were not silted up. Unfortunately she had a moment of madness and wrote not 'cataract' but 'cataphract', which she only realised afterwards and howled with anguish.

"The mind certainly boggles at the idea of well silted suits of armour," said Zajala. "They'll know what you meant as you wrote it properly in context; you'll lose a mark for poor spelling."

"Do you think so?" asked Zephyra, anxiously.

"Rather. Dad marks everyone except me, so he'll laugh out loud and credit you for what you meant. He'll probably tease you unmercifully in the hols though."

"I'll deserve it," said Zephyra. "What did you think of the Ogham?"

"Beastly, but at least none of us have any excuse for not knowing the Celtic names for trees, with Hagrid naming his brats after them," said Zajala. "The cuneiform was at least straight forward, talking about irrigation channels."

Zajala and Zephyra were also together for Arithmancy, which was another long, complex exam, but at least one more or less knew what to expect. It was a three part exam opening with a paper of long questions, and one must leave time to do the paper of short questions without getting too carried away with the long ones; and Zephyra did the paper of short questions first, which should be a fairly good guarantee of 25% to start with as none of them seemed to her to be challenging. The longer questions covered such questions as the optimal time to break curses, the optimal number of portkeys for a venue where three hundred and two wizards would arrive, and the optimal distance apart for each to avoid possible join-splinch and the time it would take to fill a tank with water given the standard flow rate of the spell _aguamenti_ from a wand. Zajala added a quick calculation of how one might set up a ritual in ten minutes to port exactly a tank full of water in from the nearest body of water. It was unnecessary, and post NEWT in scale, but one had to keep up the end of the ritualists. She also wrote of the portkeys that a repelling charm set up by waffling logic as the first group arrived would mean that one might lay the other arrivals in a spiral and return to the first location after the first dozen groups had arrived. Zephyra stuck more closely to the text book in all questions.

The final part with its equation and one word question was 'elucidate', a hardly less scary word than 'Explain'. One might assume that a Snape had set the exam this year.

The equation described a circle, and was the calculation of the energy required according to the factorial of the number of yards of the radius of the circle, and the circle was one of exclusion of undead. Mindless undead, corrected Zajala. She absently added that much of the energy might be extracted from the heat of the surroundings so long as one was not overreaching oneself, in which case the circle might protect from inferii but would be of no use whatsoever against being at ground zero of a tornado of several F numbers.

Well, that was two down.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Kevin was the only person taking Art, and bearing in mind that he was to be teaching the subject he had actually taken it seriously rather than producing, as his first tongue in cheek thought, underwear with protective patterns against dirt. His masterwork was in ropework within a decorative belt, consisting of the protego charm at all times, and by a realignment of the decorative sliding fastener became a portkey to a previously prepared funk-hole. He demonstrated how to prepare rope for better use in ritual, and how to prepare paints to paint moving portraits, something he had to do as an extra to his masterpiece as he was relying heavily on pattern magic for the practical. He also produced his portfolio of paintings to induce various moods, and had to firmly remove the euphoric one from the hands of Charlotte Malfoy, who was examining him.

"That's quite powerful," said Charlotte.

"Yes, and I hadn't reckoned on how dangerous it might be," said Kevin. "I made it thinking of it as a gift for someone who was dying painfully, to ease their passing. I've just realised you could put it in a vault to catch thieves, or use it to kill someone by not wanting to leave it. I didn't mean it to have dark purpose."

"I think it's important that you realise it can be used for dark purpose, but that your thought was to help someone is to your credit," said Charlotte. "I suspect Lucius will commission several of them from you as an aid to his security trolls, by holding any would be thieves in fascinated thrall."

"I think I'll redesign it so that if you wear glasses with a particular tint it completely destroys your ability to see the pattern so it doesn't work," said Kevin. "It's easy enough with colour theory. Then any security guards could wear safety goggles with the right tint."

"A clever refinement," said Charlotte, making a note that Kevin's colour theory was better than his usual inarticulate explanations might suggest.

There were two written papers for Art, one of short questions on general techniques, and the longer paper chosen from three, which covered more specialised fields. Kevin discarded 'Portraiture' and 'Landscape' and chose to answer questions on 'Pattern and Symbology'. There were half a dozen paragraph length questions and an essay entitled "The use of the sun symbol devised independently by several different cultures is powerful symbolically and hence ritually." Kevin wrote that the perception of the sun symbol was almost as powerful as the use of it ritually, and pointed out that it could serve as a the centre of a number of patterns, including a maze in which to ensnare, like a four-legged spider. He mentioned associating runes with it in passing, hoping for some credit for the mention without being totally sure how to use the runes he might choose. He wished again he had studied runes! However, he knew his patterns and his symbols and wrote steadily and well.

It might not be an 'O' grade answer, but Kevin certainly knew quite enough to teach with, and was confident of attaining an 'E' grade. Even if it was a scrape into it!

The Chanting written paper was next, and Zajala was glad to be a competent arithmancer in the designs of chants called for. Dad, she thought, had presumably set the paper to be sure of a group capable of dealing with a necromancer and a megalomaniac with delusions of style, and a chant to exclude the undead was one of the major questions. Zajala knew enough to exclude the minded undead as well as the likes of inferii, and made extra arithmantic notes about dealing with a lich since one had to assume it might be able to use any power-sucking device it used to sustain itself to take a ward down. A twist to have the ward ground rather suddenly through such an item by turning it into what a muggle would have called a capacitor should discourage that.

Using and countering sun symbology was also mentioned in passing. Zajala thought she had done reasonably well since nothing in the exam was outside the usual discussions at the Malfoy Manor breakfast table. In point of fact she had wandered outside of the level of NEWT at several points, but Lucius expected no less from his talented daughter.

Care of beasts was the province of Damian Malfoy, aka Faunus, though Storm was taking care of domestic beasts. It was a good bet that as it came properly in its alphabetical order there would be no mackled malaclaws, and Damian was much relieved. In the event, it was an almost boring test, in the light of the Triwizard's first task, since it involved the removal of the explosive fluid from the horn of an erumpant.

"You'd have walked it," he exulted to Zajala. "I have to say, I swiped your Triwizard idea."

"But you aren't able to prepare beforehand, how did you get a befuddling draft?" asked Zajala.

"Didn't need one; I didn't have to approach it like you did. Only to get the stuff. So it occurred to me that the 'empty' flask I was carrying was actually full of air, and I switched the air for the exploding fluid."

"That comes of having muggle science in your background," said Zajala, admiringly. "It would never occur to me to think of air as being stuff that can be switched."

"Even though you chant to harden it as a diffusion grid against the killing curse?"

"It never occurred to me it was an effect on the air. I'm afraid I just do that one by rote; my bad. I'll think about it in the future."

"Do; understanding what you are doing might save your life, why am I preaching to our champion?"

"Because you done good, Cousin Damian, we're proud of you and I needed the preach," said Zajala.

The written exam was something Damian enjoyed as well, being largely on Dragons, and the new forms recently described of Wyverns and Zilanti. Damian wrote too much.

The care of domestic beast practical involved approaching, harnessing, mounting and riding a hippogryff, which neither Damian nor Storm had any difficulty over. Buckbeak was an old friend of Damian's, and Storm had come to know him quite well too. Removing the extraneous tail of a crup was another test and discussing with the examiner the training of a white hound to hunt nogtails. The written covered the care of flying horses in great detail, some questions on the statutes surrounding the keeping of magical beasts, and a section on recognising and dealing with a variety of ailments in a selection of magical beasts, including some contagious muggle conditions which might be found. This was doubtless in response to the terrible condition of the Russian horses!

There were a much larger number of people taking charms; it was a core subject and most people managed to reach Professor Flitwick's standards unless they were a total dunce at the subject. Without being a soft option, it was an exam in which an 'A' grade did display that a student could study to higher level, even if insufficiently academic to achieve other exams, or manage to gain anything more than a basic understanding. It was one reason Professor Flitwick had welcomed the Special Sixth, since it meant fewer of what he called 'duffer Huffers' hanging on to the hope of a pass in one subject. Following the style of the DOE, there was to be a 'Brevet Charms' exam, which enabled students to perform an exam somewhere above that of OWL but somewhat short of the NEWT. The practical would be almost as full as that of the NEWT, but the theoretical knowledge required would be much less. Waffling and Switch need not be quoted, and knowledge of such terms as Extrinsic Alteration would not be expected, nor the reasons to use Assimilative or even Extrinsic Translocation by Precision, or even the terms. Following the German idea for the ZAP, the main exam paper would be used, with enough redacted to mean that no more than an P grade would normally be able to be scored. Following an extraordinarily good paper, showing more theoretical knowledge, and an unusually talented performance at the practical, the exam board could discretionarily award a full NEWT.

David was quite pleased with the brevet exams and hoped that they would help those who wanted more than OWL but could not handle NEWT. The same style of exam would be in place for Transfigurations, with a second paper specifically aimed at medical transfigurations, and the Potion brevet was entirely about such things of NEWT level that an apothecary would need. Which did not include Felix Felicis, Veritaserum or love potions of any kind. Antidotes to love potions however were included. The care of beasts brevet was basically a choice of paper on horses or small domestic animals, and herbology left out the more aggressive plants. These were the only ones in place as yet, and David was considering permitting the taking of brevet exams by those in the ordinary sixth who wanted a little more depth but not the full workload. A herbology brevet for a potioneer was, for example, potentially useful. Or as an adjunct to a brevet transfiguration qualification as the nurse at a dame school, or in a large factory, or if Lucius had his way as paramedics responding locally before medical apparation to St Mungos. David was also fighting to get a discretionary brevet awarded in the case of a NEWT failed but not by much.

As it happened only two people were taking the brevet charms exam, Martha Bones and Peter Templeton, and Martha would be taking transfigurations as a full NEWT. Martha wanted to go into the ministry but wanted as many qualifications as possible. Her friends Lucy Barnett and Teela Guffy were also good transfigurationists, but had also opted for the Special Sixth, and Teela had asked for the brevet transfiguration exam as she hoped to be a Healer. So did Lucy but she opted for the full exam, and healer training alongside as her only other subject.

Meanwhile, the Charms written exam was first, and Zajala slapped Kevin on the back in encouragement, it being one of his three NEWTs, and slipped a hand through Nigel's arm. All the Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaws were taking this as none of them were poor at it, and the Hufflepuffs who were taking it, Kevin, Kaur Freeman and Cassius Prince, were privately of the opinion that it was only a lack of self confidence that made their housefellows drop it.

The previous year had been largely about mobility charms, and anyone expecting a long essay on barrier charms as a change were somewhat disappointed since mobility charms featured prominently once more. Memory charms were also covered and a brief foray into barrier charms.

The practical was no big surprise, the obliviation of a muggle who had seen Godrica or Buckbeak, mobility charms performed on trees, disillusioning flying horses so muggles could not see them, and the demonstration of a limited form of Protean charm. None of the tests were as taxing as they could sometimes be, but they were greater in number and more varied.

This was not, to Ellie's disappointment, a year of many keen followers of Comparative Magic but that was the way it went. Even Lilith was only taking it to OWL this year.

DADA was an exam more people took, including Zajala, Storm and Zephyra. Oliver Prince, Roger Blake, Damian Malfoy, Lycos Rafe, Korban gan Nork, Jabala gan Kordach, Aubrey Vane, Cecil Burke, Pericles Bullivant, Danzo gan Tokar, Ludmila Yaxley, Kaur Freeman, Wendy Waffling and Mesmadora Turpin were all taking it too. Connie Hardbroom had laid in plenty of Mandragora, but reflected that at least half the class were insufficiently skilled at transfigurational skills to pull off the stone transformation.

In the practical the examiner became a statue seven times, to Zajala, Storm, Zephyra, Danzo, Aubrey, Damian and Jabala. The rest were content to leave him bound, tickled, langlocked and disarmed. They were well drilled if not always imaginative.

The written was moderately standard and covered curses, counter curses, cursed wounds, the unforgivable curses, dark creatures and the undead mentioned separately. Nobody who attempted it had any trouble, and nor did they have any trouble with corporeal patronuses.

Divination was the province of the Spikenard twins and Arthur Pippin. Arthur was no great shakes at divination, but it was a skill in demand now for teachers, as it seemed to have regained its status as a serious study. Arthur was a potioneer by trade, but it never went awry to have more than one string to one's bow, and he took astronomy for potioneering and to help his divination. And astronomy was a rare skill too. He had quietly taken that exam while the high flyers were bellyaching about their ancient runes, and was hoping to pass divination on his theory if not on any vision or serious prediction.

As it happened, he was able to inform the examiner solemnly that he would suffer embarrassment from a non dangerous curse. As Arthur was sufficiently pompous not to make anything up, as Madam Spikenard informed the examiner, it might be assumed that he was not leaping to the logical conclusion that an examiner was ripe to be cursed.

And it was combined Marauders and Not-Marauders of the fourth who managed to curse his farts not to glow but to form the semblance of crystal balls with pictures of Prince Aleksandr in them.

Lavender and Rosemary both came up with the prediction that the Triwizard would be as peaceful as such things ever are, refused to comment on the winner, but both gave a sealed envelope to the examiner, cursed, as Rosemary said politely, to burst into flame if opened before the end of the competition. They had asked Zajala to undertake this little piece of ritual. They added that the Russians had not given up but were merely biding their time and both added that Meerkats were in season. This mystified the examiner mightily which cheered the twins up no end.

The main body of practical evidence was in the interpretation of omens, dreams and visions which the three had had, and had written up, signed by Madame Spikenard and dated, and countersigned by David, and notes appended where these visions were either confirmed by other seers, as in the case of the thwarted possession by mirror, or came to pass. Much of Arthur's evidence was in the interpretation of the dreams of younger people with seer abilities, as his ability to interpret was a valid skill.

The written exam was moderately standard, asking for interpretations of pictures of tea leaves, cards and so on, and theoretical knowledge of other forms of divination. Lavender and Rosemary were both hopeful that this was an 'O' in the bag.

Storm was one of those taking enchanting, and she found it all moderately straightforward, and half wished that she had taken on the new subject of metalcrafting. However, she buckled down with a will, and wrote steadily about communications devices and the enchantments required to make them work. As Storm had been living in Malfoy Manor for a couple of years now, she was able to write very knowledgeably about Wizarding Wireless Vision.

The exam had gone back to using flying shopping trolleys, as the ministry had come up with the idea of using tokens the size of muggle pound coins to insert in the locks, by which muggles hoped to stop theft of these items. As most shopping trolleys abandoned in unlikely places, like in rivers and canals were those from less than successful wizarding exam students, they were operating more in hope than expectation. However, the ministry hoped to get most of their tokens back by re-attaching them to their chains, and hence expelling the tokens.

Storm enjoyed flying her trolley, and thoughtfully added both cushioning charms and seatbelt charms – she had been in Lucius' cars often enough to find these comforting – and she transfigured the toddler seat into a joystick for better control. Being privy to flights by helicopter also helped.

Geomancy was another exam without students; though Padfoot was heard to grumble that enough of them had picked up enough to scrape a pass, especially Zajala, Zephyra and Danzo.

However, that was the way it sometimes went.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The only herbologist was Ludmila Yaxley, though there were a number of the special sixth taking the brevet exam. Teela and Lucy were taking it with a view to using healing plants, another girl named Laura with intent to back up her one good subject of potioneering, and a boy, Tony, who was considering working in a plant nursery.

The full exam practical was the old standard of harvesting Mandragora and Ludmila wondered whether this was in response to a large number of DADA students using the _duracorpus_ option. She was not musical, but had learned a musical charm that was soporific to plants since horticulture was her major hobby and she cared about the feelings of her plants. She had no trouble. Much of the rest involved testing various composts and producing mixes that were optimal for a list of plants, which was, Ludmila thought, a very sensible test, and moreover ideal for those people to whom aggressive plants were offputting.

The written covered self-motile plants, redacted for the brevet exam, wand trees, soil types, and the correct times to harvest a selection of plants, and their proper preparation. Ludmila enjoyed it and went to tell her Saggitarius spinifora all about it.

History, Metalwork and Muggle Studies were also subjects with no takers this year; so the next exam was Potions, which almost the entire year was taking, albeit in the case of some in brevet form.

The high flyers here were Zajala, Oliver Prince, Arthur Pippin and Laura, with those hopeful of an 'E' being Nigel, Lycos Rafe and Danzo. The special sixth were largely taking this as an adjunct to healing, or in the case of Tony, to add to his knowledge of plants. Kevin had never had any intention of jeopardising his other three NEWTs with a skill he did not hope to do more than pass, and Cecil Burke agreed with him. So too did Storm and Zephyra, who were taking five NEWTs and did not want to jeopardise them! For some students, like Charms, it was a second or third NEWT to go with a single skill. As the special sixth became better established, there would be less need to feel that this was necessary, as more vocational skills would be available.

The full exam students had prepared their potions and Zajala, Oliver and Arthur had matured their Felix Felicis on the beach in New Zealand, with repelling spells towards anyone under seventeen, more to prevent accidents than in expectation of deliberate tampering. Laura had stuck to Veritaserum, as had Lycos and Danzo. Nigel had decided to aim high for Felix as well, in the hopes of grabbing extra marks, as it was all a case of being methodical. His confidence had improved no end, and he was very pleased with his result, even if it was not so clear as that of the other three brewing it. The Brevet students had prepared Liberamore Major as the most complex potion they would have to produce. The practical for both was to identify ingredients by look, smell and feel, and to show preparation techniques.

The written was of course much stiffer for the NEWT students, and involved complex questions using Golapott, the analysing of potions through Malfoy lines, printed, and so on. The brevet students had to complete a little more than half the number of questions.

Zajala enjoyed it and Nigel proclaimed it 'not too bad.'

Only Lilith was taking the exam in music, and this was her only NEWT this year. The written was first, and required the crafting of short passages to perform a selection of functions, and Lilith enjoyed herself and added more complexity than was strictly necessary. Adding counterpoints to already crafted tunes was simplicity, though the addition of three extra parts all adding to each other was not required. Lilith was like that, though.

The essay question this year was 'trace the musical influences on current western trends and expand upon their use and possible origins in magical bases.' Lilith wandered a little too deeply into jazz and its significance in voudon, became too arithmantic on the relationships of the distinctive sound of classical jazz and the blues, and completed the rest of the essay at merely 'O' grade writing.

The practical involved sending a volunteer to sleep with a soporific tune, and then waking them with a counter-tune. Lilith's volunteer was Rose Gaunt-Moody. Rose was then set dancing by Nils to the Elf-king's tune, and Lilith didn't bother to read the music of it backwards to counter it, but played it from memory. Rose giggled.

"I could have done with the sleep after that," she said. "It was ever such a nice one, felt like I'd had a whole night's rest."

"Well that was why I added the extra twiddly bits, so you'd be fresh to dance," said Lilith. "The tune is supposed to be a forty-eight hour soporific but I knew you'd be woken up, so I figured I'd add enough to make that like a whole night."

Nils made a note of this, having missed it, and marvelled again over how talented Lilith was.

Transfigurations involved Zajala, Nigel, Storm and Kevin, Damian, Lycos, Danzo, Pericles Bullivant, Cecil Burke, Lucy Barnett, Martha Bones, Reginald Pike, a Ravenclaw, and Randall Corner. Teela Guffy was taking the brevet form, though Madam McGonagall had tried to persuade her to take the full NEWT. Teela lacked confidence rather than ability. However, if she felt safe taking this new brevet, Minerva sighed and hoped she would pass well, rather than fluffing it for panicking.

The summoning went well enough for most of them, though Randall Corner accidentally summoned a swarm of snitches instead of a flock of birds, and Cecil, who was with the other examiner, just ahead of Randall, was flustered enough to turn the violin into a snake with a passing resemblance to a basilisk because of the unofficial Slytherin house quidditch mascot, Basil the Basilisk. He lost it totally and retired in hysterics, leaving Zajala to stalk in, subdue the not-basilisk and turn it into a kneazle, that promptly bit Randall.

Zajala's own violin was a ragdoll, because nobody she knew had attempted that breed before, but the examiner credited her with the kneazle being worth more marks. There were no further serious upsets, as Teela was taking a separate exam, and so was unlikely to be made hysterical by things she had not seen.

The written covered Gamp's Law and its exceptions, and nobody in this group, much to McGonagall's relief, were inclined to argue with the premises laid down by that theoretician. The essay on Assimilative Correlation was completed with more or less foray into post NEWT concepts, as this was less of a Malfoy thing than a Snape thing, and the talented in this year were Malfoys or their cronies more than Snapes. The two Prince boys were not as close to their Snape relatives as some of their ilk.

And Cecil had been calmed down with glumbumble juice and wrote well enough.

All in all it was a relatively peaceful and ordinary year.

Even if that idiot Corner boy had let his mind wander onto the only thing that held his attention for more than a few minutes at a time.

And the NEWTs at Hogwarts were over.

The NEWTs at Prince Peak had of course been taking place at the same time.

Ancient runes was the province of Fred, AHHa, Julian, Albert and Silvina. Silvina thought that the comparison of ways of farming was very interesting, but had to work hard to catch up time as she was sidetracked into writing the start of a tone poem about the waters of the Nile laughing over the cataracts and flooding in a majestic spread across the fields. Fortunately she had made her musical notes on one of the extra sheets provided that she had transfigured into being staves not lines. Julian asked,

"Did you write it down? What you were humming?"

"Of course I did," said Silvina. "Might cost me the 'O' grade as I had to write pretty fast to cover the ruddy trees, but meh."

"She's a composer," laughed Fred.

"I did make some notes on what you hummed, but had to scrawl out staves … d'OH!" Julian smote his head as Silvina showed him her transfigured staves. "Well, I'll think of that another time."

"And thanks for taking the time to make the notes," said Silvina.

"I'm not anticipating higher than an 'E' anyway," said Julian, "and preserving the music of our resident genius is more important."

"That's true friendship," said Silvina, moved.

Severus might hold that Arithmancy was the key to higher magic, but this year was notable for its lack of numeracy; and only Flo and Silvina were taking it to NEWT. Silvina managed to concentrate though this exam, and completed it in plenty of time. She made notes on a tune that one might use to increase the flow of power for the exclusion line defined in the final equation. Flo, who was a very competent arithmancer, calculated the power required to animate an inferius and added some terms to the equation to partially power the exclusion line as it came into use by breaking the enchantment holding the will into the decaying body and using that magic to add to the exclusion line. Severus was quite delighted when she showed him her workings and hugged her for coming up with a piece of original research on the fly.

Disappointingly for Pru, nobody was taking Astronomy to NEWT, but her classes for potioneers and diviners had been well attended.

George and Yelisaveta were the only ones taking care of domestic beasts, and George declared to Ross that it was 'a doddle'. Having seen his practical, Ross knew fine well that this meant that George had done well, since none of the Ingates were given to flights of imagination or unreasonable expectations. Yelisaveta smiled and agreed that it had gone well.

The chanting theory paper followed, which was taken by everyone except the Jorkins twins and Kate Grant, and nobody had any problems.

Charms was being taken by Vya Kalinka, Rose Hubble, Kate Grant, Albert Jorkins and Sara Barbary, and Sara hoped for a high grade as she was taking only three NEWTs, the other two being chanting and music, the whole reason for her being here. Her talents were particular rather than general, but that she had a real talent was reason enough for her to be in the school, and Severus made it clear that he was in no wise disappointed that she was not taking the five or more NEWTs that all but Granville, Yelisaveta, Kate and Hanna-Leena were taking. Those four had decided that four good grades was better than risking blowing it with five.

None of the candidates had any trouble with either obliviation nor moving trees around, since shifting trees for dryads and obliviating tourists was part of life on the Prinzhorn. Sara declared that a babe like Radagas could have passed it. She had a horrid feeling that the Constitutional Marauders would also be capable of throwing around such terms as Extrinsic Alteration, and with as much understanding as anyone in the sixth, even if they could not manage a protean charm.

In this she was probably partially correct.

It was probably fair to say that the upper and lower sixth were the last years containing families traditionally sent to Cackle's or Hellibore's who might not all have passed the stringent exam Severus now had in place, since Severus was taking only the brightest to keep his numbers low. And at that, even those of his original Cackle's girls, who had left the previous year, had achieved more than they would have believed possible, and reached for standards above those that Hogwarts considered necessary.

But that was the whole point of a school for the highly talented.

AHHa and Hanna-Leena Tommila were the only ones taking Comparative Magic, disappointing perhaps for Freya, but her few students did work assiduously. AHHa wrote busily about the different perceptions of shapeshifters in various cultures, compared and contrasted demonology with the use of loa in the voudon tradition and discussed knowledgeably how the exigencies of geography shaped the importance of spell tradition. AHHa had debated this with Freya as a matter of using the Egyptian tradition to entrap Achille, pointing out how many of the stories of Egyptian magic show mastery over water, when water was the single most vital commodity in the land. He cited freeing the waters at Elephantine, though noted in passing that this was probably the act of an engineer rather than a magician, and the parting of the waters of the Nile for a female rower, who was entertaining the pharaoh, to pick up her lost hair ornament. For the Norse, mastery over rock and metal was important, with such tales as Odin's magic auger that could bore clear through a mountain, the magic of the supposed dwarf who could build a wall in a night, and the forging of weapons. He rather ran out of time and had to complete the paper of short questions in a hurry. Hanna-Leena produced answers that were less erratic, but were more pedestrian.

It was only Sara who was not taking DADA. The class wrote with a knowledge that showed their understanding to be well past the expected level of NEWT, absently diverging onto discussions of liches, wights and such esoteric undead, and demonstrating arithmantic knowledge of protection from demons. For the practical, Madam Trewkettle resigned herself to drinking a lot of mandragora. None of Severus' well-drilled army suffered any ill effects from the curses cast at them, and Severus did not bother to point out that Madam Trewkettle bore the words 'patronising durak' in zits on her forehead for having commented in the hearing of the students that as all the Cackle's girls had left now, she trusted that the students would all be shown to be quite as efficient as Ravenclaws.

Madam Trewkettle had once been a Ravenclaw.

Severus had replied mildly,

"Oh, my children are nothing like Ravenclaws, they are all hard-working, efficient and singularly well balanced mentally. You need have no fears that I am permitting even my most talented to emulate that sort of thing."

Madam Trewkettle didn't like him anyway, so that could hardly be worse, and the feeling was mutual.

It may be said that since the entire year, including Sara, had chanted to put the zits on Madam Trewkettle's head, using Finnish naming magic and the power of twenty three, she had to pay the talented Mardo Monk to get rid of the manifestation.

There were no Diviners in this year, but then Carmenta preferred that state of affairs to having her subject treated as a soft option. There were no enchanters either, being a year which preferred to go for what might be a brute force chant to cover the same options. Those studying metalwork had covered some enchantment, but as Fred pointed out, five NEWTs was enough for people not surnamed 'Snape'. As Silvina was taking six, she put her tongue out at him, since so was AHHa.

Geomancy was the province of only Sandalla, who felt that as the princess of a magically hidden land which was unplottable, it behoved her to understand how Zorn was protected.

She calculated the fastest way to get from one point to another, which was not always the obvious matter of nodal shift, listed the destinations of the Knight Bus in probable magically significant order Aldeborough, Loughborough, Beccles, Daventry, Granchester, Jarrow, Maidstone, Maidenhead, Beachy Head, Yarmouth. She made a note that Aldeborough, Loughborough, Beachy Head, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Beccles and the rest was probably also valid, but less elegantly managed. An essay on the logistics of transport to big sports venues completer her written work, and Sandalla was taken to England where she collected a wheelchair from Bath, a chastity belt from Maidenhead, some torn fabric from Rippon and a roll of toilet paper from Lewes. Sandalla considered that there was somebody in the Ministry of Transport who probably should be transferred for the sometimes rather stretched Assimilative Translocational Correlation. However, this was her penultimate exam and she was glad to get it over.

Granville, taking Herbology, was glad to be dealing with Mandrakes; when he married Svetlana, and his twin married Sandalla, they would have some responsibility for the wild mandrakes at the entrance to the country of Zorn. He considered the practical on manures very sensible, and enjoyed the written. Rose was also taking this exam, as she liked plants, and she beamed at him afterwards, and declared it was lovely to have such a nice easy exam, and not a snargaluff in sight.

Sandalla was also taking history, which was sensible for a ruler-to-be, but she was taking the German ZH in European history, as Percy felt it to be superior to the English exam. Sandalla found ancient history more interesting than modern history, but had opted for the latter as more use to her. She wrote steadily on the history of rivalry between wizards and goblins, on the religious schisms of the muggles that had lead indirectly to the Statute of Secrecy, on the problems caused by the differences in muggle and wizarding country boundaries, and on how to recognise the rise of dictators and at what points they should be stopped. Sandalla managed not to say "With a bloody good spanking before they even got to school", but she thought it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13.**

Metalwork was being taken by the Visick twins, George, and the Granville twins. They had worked hard to take the OWL the previous year, and had turned in their masterpieces. Flo had produced a goblin silver prosthetic hand, in keeping with her desire to be a healer, as a replacement for a hand lost to splinching or other accident that made recovery of a body part hard to replace. It was both more, and less than the hand Voldemort had made out of pure magic for Peter Pettigrew; it became totally part of the body of the person to whom it was attached, and the enchantments within it encouraged the growth of the injured person's bone into the light framework, and their skin to grow over the top. Flo felt that it was imperfect in that it only mimicked a real hand as she had not yet figured out how to make the recipient's body replace it totally, but everyone else was much impressed.

George had produced a snaffle that was a 'dial a location' portkey that could be reactivated after use. He was not taking geomancy or arithmancy, but declared that any oik could understand enough to make a portkey. The examiner hid a few chuckles over what he suspected half the Ministry of Transport might say about that.

Fred, apologetic over a lack of originality, had produced a variant on the Foe Mirror but with a built in interpretation of lip reading, which he had asked Sandalla to help with, so that what the approaching foes were saying might also be heard. It had taken him some time to make this come out the right way round, not played backwards as if audially mirrored.

Granville had managed something along the same lines as a foe mirror, except that it was unable to give details; however it was a system of detectors that would surround the main entrance into the country of Zorn, and he hoped one day to extend it around the country's perimeter, which sent an alarm if anyone entered who had hostile intent against any of the inhabitants. Albert, a little more pedestrian than his brother, had come up with a piece of jewellery that resembled a crown which held the diffusion grid. Protecting Sandalla might be one of the most important things he ever had to do.

They all wrote hard in the stiff three and a half hour exam on the techniques of magical alloys, the coefficient of magical expansion and so on.

Sandalla's twin, Svetlana, born and brought up as a muggle before their ritual merging, was taking muggle studies to make sure one of them understood how to work with muggles, and wrote rather too much about electricity. The other entrant was Yelisaveta, who was a half-blood and who was considering teaching muggle studies as well as riding, since both were minority subjects.

Music was being taken by four of the students, and by Amos Leroy, to have a formal qualification in it. The others were Vya, Julian, Silvina and Sara.

None of them had any trouble crafting tunes for particular effect nor in adding counterpoints to other tunes, though it may be said that Silvina went a little further than was required; and they wrote assiduously in tracing musical forms and assigning possible magical origins to them. Silvina declared that rock music had its roots in jazz and in the syncopated rhythms of the drums of voudon, and proceeded to analyse the music of Iron Maiden as an exemplar; Julian, Vya and Amos wrote about the fey, and Sara declared that muggle ritual chanting in Gregorian plainsong was influenced by chanting before it was lost.

They each had a volunteer from the middle school to go to sleep, be woken and be rescued from the Elf King's dance. It may be noted that both Vya and Silvina had learned this tune backwards to whistle from memory; the others took a little longer.

Potions was a speciality subject of Prince Peak, and more in the class were taking it than were not, though not by much, as nine of the sixteen were involved. These were George, AHHa, Julian, Granville, Sandalla, Svetlana, Silvina, Vya and Hanna-Leena, who was the class star. The clear air of the Prinzhorn had been perfect for the maturing of Felix Felicis, and it was generally thought that one might as well get a licence to brew it along with the exam. George, who could be awkward that way, had brewed instead a prophylactic draught to feed to horses, which was inert unless activated by the introduction of any poison or drug, through the stomach, skin or tissue, to defeat race fixing. It also had the effect of negating any appearance-changing charms for the introduction of ringers. George loved horses, but he knew fine well that any sport in which there was betting also attracted less savoury types who would exploit it in any way they might. He had every intention of marketing his prophylactic to those in the riding circuits, and of publishing his formula free in 'Transactions of the Learned Society of Potioneers' as he cared more about keeping the sport clean than he did about making a mint.

It was Severus' opinion that he would make a mint in any case, since most people were too lazy or incompetent to brew their own, and he had made George a loan to help him market it.

None of the students had any problems with the written exam being too well grounded by Severus to forget who Golapott was, as had occurred with some of Severus' first Cackle students!

A new exam this year was the Quidditch NEWT; none of the supposedly talented quidditch players in Hogwarts had felt prepared to take this up, and risk the other NEWTs they had chosen, but Kate Grant was happy to be a guinea pig. She was examined by Mr. Oglethorpe, head of Q.U.A.B.B.L.E. himself.

The NEWT exam was based on the referee's exam, and indeed holding it was an instant pass to being a referee; it also included questions on sports injuries and curses on sports equipment, to prepare the successful candidate to be a coach as well. The practical had three parts. One had to attune a snitch to be ready for a match, and be ready for the blood memory to imprint; to check over a team's brooms for any curses and remove any; and to mend a bludger so badly damaged that its enchantments had been compromised. Kate was quite equal to this, and performed with aplomb.

As Mr. Oglethorpe was there, he also examined Fred and George on their quidditch OWL, which they were taking as a supplemental examination. Both hoped to go on to take referees' exams, and to be available for matches at Schloss Adler when they were working there as a healers, in Fred's case: or in George's case, based there while he played professional quiddpolo. Both youths performed well enough with the new form of exam where removing a hurling hex was a part of the practical.

Transfigurations was being taken by Fred and Flo, in their capacity of future healers, and also AHHa, Albert, Svetlana, Rose and Vya. Gamp held no mysteries to any of them, and none of them were awkward enough to argue too much against his exceptions. Summoning was child's play to all of them, as was turning a violin into a cat with interesting markings. It was perhaps as well that it was to Stripy, the School Leopard to whom Rose's mind wandered, not Tibbles, the school Griffon, and Rose argued that a leopard was still a cat. At the examiner's insistence, Rose's leopard became an Egyptian spotted cat instead.

Other than Rose having a Hubble moment, the exam went quite smoothly.

The junior examiners drew lots over who was to go to Hellibores. It might be considered to be a very quiet, short, safe venue; so whoever lost got to go there.

As none of the NEWT year had been chosen to be the Triwizard champion, it might be assumed that this would be an even more boring year, and the examiner was not surprised to find that the year's star, Ulysses Hobday, was taking three NEWTs and considered himself a big man to do so. He was quite boring about what Sardo should have done with the erumpant in the first task, as he used cushioning charms himself, and was pleased to tap a quarter of a flask of exploding fluid.

It may be said that he caught a glimpse of Damian Malfoy on the erumpant reserve with two full flasks and threw a hissy fit, and had to be rescued from his erumpant. Damian didn't even notice him.

It may also be said that this upset led to Ulysses failing to perform as well in the two exams he had hoped to get 'O' grade in, charms and defence against the dark arts, since he was still seething that an also-ran from Hogwarts had done so very much better than he had. His obliviated muggle had to receive psychiatric aid to prevent the sudden phobia of being run down by erumpants, which beast the poor man had not seen, and Ulysses forgot himself enough to cast the cruciatus curse back at the examiner in DADA. He managed to get himself enough together to pretend a misunderstanding of the relaxation of the law with regards to using it in exams, and got away with a warning; but it was probable that he would have to settle for 'E' grades in his best subjects.

The Free School had only three NEWT entrants, though there were enough entered for OWL and DOE to make sending a reasonable complement of examiners worth while. Riker was the star here, taking arithmancy, care of domestic beasts, geomancy and transfigurations, and if he was never going to be in the same league as some of the more privileged children, he was a solid 'E' student and was pleased enough with the Geomancy paper, and his speed of collecting the odd artefacts that he hoped for an 'O' grade, which would be a bonus from Madam Maxime's point of view. And Austin Crockford and Jocelyn Todd would be pleased to receive passes in the two subjects each that they were taking. Jocelyn hoped to work in the ministry, and Austin commented that they probably deserved her.

The French examiners were happy to be examining a famous boy who was the Triwizard champion for the school, and who was not bottom. Pharamond was taking five ELFs including chanting, which made him an object of some awe, and he had to put up with a degree of veneration by the examiners, who wanted to put all the students at their ease and assure them that there were no such things as failures, only varying degrees of success.

Pharamond thought cynically that this could be why French scholars tended towards the lackadaisical, and made a mental note to have his younger siblings entered for the Prince Peak exam, and if they failed it, to send them to Hogwarts, Schloss Adler, Durmstrang, Darryl's new school or almost anywhere else. He had to admit that Olympe did seem to be trying to tighten her grip, but for him it was too little, too late, and he swore that he would double the number of qualifications he had by taking a post graduate year at Prince Peak.

The exams went without hysteria, as Desolina stiffened that line from time to time, and with much kissing and congratulating. Pharamond hoped for an 'E' each in herbology and potions, by sheer hard work, and an 'O' each in chanting, history and charms, which was partly natural talent and the rest hard work. Herbology ELFs were not as stiff as their English and German counterparts, and Pharamond hoped fervently that he would not be against snargaluff in the final task, since he had never been taught how to deal with them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The ZHs were a matter of contention between Agata and the Eulenspiegel twins; Agata refused point blank to let them take all the exams they wanted to, and accepted a compromise of seven from Xanthe and six from Xanthippe, and told them that as they were quite capable of doing any transfiguration they wanted, as Attila well knew, they could give that up, and arithmancy, since they probably knew more than the examiner. And they could always take them as external students if they wanted, next year, as if it made any difference to being Zlatko's wives and cohorts. And she was only permitting them to take dark arts because Herr Bergen liked to be entertained by the more talented students.

The Eulenspiegels accepted this with more or less philosophy, though it may be said that apart from Harald Trollkettil's efforts, Herr Bergen generally enjoyed examining a class of what was largely Jade's disciples, including now, it seemed, the previously rather sullen and violent Vighard Sternschuppe. Herr Bergen had rather expected that Vighard, like Harald, would produce the entrail expelling curse as the worst curse that he knew, and was pleasantly surprised when the boy made a pass in front of his volunteer's face, a half-goblin coiner from Munich, and asked him what he thought of magic.

"Magic? Kid's stuff on stage you mean? Sissy stuff," said the man.

"I meant real magic, spells."

"Kid, if you believe in that crap at your age, you're a loser. Get a life! Ain't no such thing as magic."

"He thinks he's a muggle," said Vighard.

"Gott in Himmel!" swore Bergen. "I … that is a terrible thing to do!"

"Yes, I thought so too," said Vighard, making another pass in front of his victim's face to remove the curse, and leave the memory of it intact.

The man was still swearing as Vighard finished the test and went out.

As Xanthe had left her victim convinced that he was a honking daffodil and kept honkingly appealing for some nice compost, and Xanthippe used the pleasure spell on hers, and Alexand Amsel had made his victim's feet behave like hands and vice versa, with the feeling cross wired too, it had been an entertaining afternoon. Yorick Thorwaldson came in next, looked at his victim, went pale, and said "Look here, I can't do curses on him, poor fellow, he's dying," which was a shock to the victim as well.

Herr Bergen called the Eulenspiegels back and asked if they could do anything, which necessitated a longish chant, and a cancer-expelling curse, as Xanthippe put it, which was a largeish section of large bowel.

"He should be in hospital," said Xanthe, critically.

"For pity's sake, curse me enough so I can get out of gaol," begged the man. "It can't hurt no worse than what that has."

"I think we've given him the strength to take it, Yorick," said Xanthe.

Yorick nodded grimly and got his unforgiveable curses over and done with quickly, grimaced, and said,

"I won't do the worst thing I know, which would be to reverse what the twins did and put you back. Now they've done it, I know how."

"How did you know I was dying, squire?"

"I'm a bit of a seer at times, and I saw a shroud on you," said Yorick. "I tell you what, I'll do the fear of water curse, which is a bit boring, but it's not going to permanently hurt you."

"You're a compassionate man, Herr Thorvaldson," said Herr Bergen.

"Nuts," said Yorick, then flushed. "Er, I mean … well, being like, well, normal," he added, inarticulately. Herr Bergen nodded. He knew what he meant. And he saw that this subject was transferred directly to St Bernard's hospital.

Those remaining were Harald, who was predictably pedestrian, Scholastica Uccello, who repeated the transfiguration she had managed on the errant governor, explaining why this had been an appropriate curse at the time, but that she could only manage creative if someone went out of their way to irritate her, and Adolph Zollschange, who created dyslexia in his subject so that he was unable to read.

Herr Bergen privately thought this was less of a handicap to the semi-literate goblin bookie who was Adolph's subject than to someone like Adolph himself, but it would be frightening to someone who was normally perfectly literate.

He was looking forward to examining Schloss Adler's children and had mixed feelings about having agreed to go to the Russian school.

This year was the start of presenting a chosen potion marked on its complexity rather than the setting of a set potion for all, and Xanthe and Xanthippe had of course chosen Felix Felicis. Vighard, less ambitious, had settled for Mandragora.

It might be said that Vighard really enjoyed the rest of his exams, of which he shared Potions with both twins, enchanting with Xanthe, and was with only Yorick to take arithmancy, since Agata had banned the twins. The twins, of course, strolled in and out of all their exams with their hands in their pockets, Zlatko-fashion, even if they did struggle with any of them. The ancient rune texts were not easy, but the twins refused to show that any Bactrian texts had given them a moment's worry.

The extra exam that Xanthe was taking was Divination, and she was taking it with Yorick and Scholastica. Scholastica was taking this as an extra ZH because she had some small talent, that it was a shame to waste, and it was a skill she might teach. Yorick had an extra piece of evidence in his experience folder over his dark arts exam, hastily written up and attested to by Herr Bergen. Yorick had been contacted by Bertel Elstrupp, asking him if he would care to join him in teaching a purely Scandinavian school, and Yorick had agreed, offering his subjects of arithmancy, dark arts, chanting and divination. Bertel was capable of offering potions, charms and herbology in addition to his best subject, runes, so was pleased that with just one other teacher so far he had a promising core. He would not be asking his old class mate, Mereta Ulvang to bring her knowledge of transfiguration to the school; she was one who knew everything and knew nothing, as Jade had put it! He was hoping to secure the services of Hanna-Leena Tommila of Prince Peak as a far more talented potioneer than he was, and trained by no less than Severus Snape at that, and would worry about a transfigurationist later.

Had Bertel but known it, he was in the same fix for a transfiguration teacher as Attila Nagy, who might continue to teach the ZH class, but could not really teach and be headmaster next year at the same time. Attila, however, was entirely indifferent to the ethnic background of his staff, and was willing to poach from England if need be. It had worked for their divination and history teachers.

In Schloss Adler, ancient runes were being taken by Biirta, Kole, Daria and Kasimir. It has to be said there were groans from all of them over the Bactrian text. Kole seemed happy enough, and Biirta breathed hard and reminded herself that most of the Bactrian known was about potioneering ingredients.

This made it much easier, and she realised that she had a chance of doing better than might be expected for having caught up the subject in just two years. Kasimir was cursing when they left the exam room and Daria asked,

"Was it me, or was that really hard?"

"It was a list; it was stiff," said Kole.

"It was a bitch," said Biirta.

Biirta was also taking Arithmancy, with Shizue and Gunnar. None of those from dame schools had touched on it.

It was a tough exam, but that was to be expected of the longest exam outside of prize exams, at four hours in a single sitting. It was one of those exams that was made easier by being fit enough to be able to relax. It was nothing that they had not covered, and Biirta settled down, calculating maxima and minima, working out the precise emergence of someone apparating with a given formula from a given spot, working out a complex little probability question requiring Wenlock numbers, and a taut piece of Waffling logic to power a spell effect under the given conditions. She rather enjoyed herself. Even the final equation was easy enough, it was a location in Berlin, and was the entrance from the Nikolaikirche to the Wizarding World.

"I blew that," said Shizue. "I made a pig's ear of the Waffling logic and I got somewhere in Northern Germany for that last one. And I didn't answer all of them fully."

"It was stiff," said Biirta, comfortingly. Gunnar had been grinning so presumably he had enjoyed it too.

They had no artists, and astronomy was only taught in passing as part of potions and divination, so the next exam was care of magical beasts, not split at ZH as it was in the English schools. This was Magda, Kasimir, Freidrich and Oskar, [] and they all returned more or less frazzled from a nogtail hunt. A large infestation had gone unnoticed, and the ministry decreed that dealing with it would make a suitable ZH test.

"They are big and vicious," said Magda, "and the white hounds we had were hardly less intimidating. I do not like hunting, however nasty the prey."

"Well, it's over," said Biirta, "and you can stick to horses from now on."

Biirta shared the chanting theory paper with Magda and Gunnar and thought it quite simple, but refrained from saying so, seeing that Magda was not nearly so cheerful. Gunnar just shrugged.

Biirta had another day off as Gunnar, Shizue, Friedrich and Oskar tackled charms, and another day before Gauda, Ktell, Kole and Daria tackled dark arts. Herr Bergen was quite cheerful in greeting them, and had their four volunteers from Nurmengard whose sentences would be reduced by three months for every curse cast on them.

It was a shame that Gauda's volunteer, a goblin thief, squealed and refused to have any more to do with it when the cruciatus curse was cast on him; and a big human said,

"Here, little girl, I'll be done by two people, and get all my time reduced."

"In theory I'm an adult, but by size, I have to say I can't fault your accuracy," said Gauda.

"I gotta think of you as a little girl, miss, or I'd piss my pants. You might be a goblin, but you're a scholar."

"I appreciate your honesty. I'm Gauda."

"I'm Heinrich Kleinestab. An ironic sorta name. I'm in for beating up the man who cheated me. And a bit of armed robbery, because I like eating."

"A habit we all enjoy. I have shown the cruciatus curse, I will display the Imperius curse," said Gauda, who made Heinrich Kleinestab perform some balletic moves which managed almost to be graceful. She dispatched her rat, and regarded Kleinestab thoughtfully.

"The worst curse I know I am not going to use because it's how to turn someone into an inferius," she said.

"How did you learn that, Fraulein Gan Garit?" asked Herr Bergen. Gauda shuddered.

"Last year, some juniors asked me to come with them on a trip that would otherwise have been out of bounds, to find an enbalmed body, the destruction of which would have broken an eight hundred year old curse on a pair of ghosts. The fellow who had had himself embalmed had also had himself put on an island in an underground lake with inferii kept freshish in it by the cold of the water. The heads dealt with the whole situation, but I looked up inferii out of morbid curiosity. I would like, as an alternative, to use the boggart curse."

Herr Bergen nodded; he was familiar with the concept. Gauda made a pass in front of Kleinstab's face that started him screaming. She waited for Herr Bergen to nod to her to negate it.

"I might do you a disservice, Herr Kleinstab, but I left a little bit of that in, to return if you want to do violence without cause," said Gauda.

"I … well that will perhaps help me curb my temper, which gets me into trouble," said Kleinstab.

"You take it philosophically; my respect," said Gauda, dropping him a little curtsy.

She performed stoically and well in the duel, and Herr Bergen needed to be rescued from the nettles.

Ktell performed with virtuosity as well, also using Herr Kleinstab; his worst curse was implanted with chanting, and left Kleinstab sweating with terror. Ktell cancelled his curse with a clap.

"I made him feel as if he'd got a dementor on his back," he said. "Nasty things, dementors. One of the lesser fey, but bad enough. I'm glad the test doesn't call for demonology."

"I fancy the education ministry is afraid of what might happen if too many students lost control, even of dementors," said Herr Bergen, dryly.

Herr Bergen was a little disappointed that Kole's performance was more ordinary and that his best curse was a blasting curse; but Daria restored his faith in the methods of Jade, when her subject wailed that he was going insane, because Daria had transferred to his mind every calculation currently being done anywhere by wizard or muggle. Herr Bergen considered it quite original!

Biirta's next exam was potions, and she had, of course, chosen Felix Felicis as her potion. So too had Gunnar and Kasimir, though Oskar had decided to aim for an easy pass by brewing Amortentia. Felix was beyond the usual scope of ZH but a good brew meant bonus points and was worth going for, if you were capable. Biirta had always been good at potions, and was eminently confident. She enjoyed the practical of identifying ingredients without labels, and demonstrating techniques, and wrote too much about Golapott in the written.

"It was a honey," said Gunnar.

Biirta agreed!

She still had some odd ZPs to take but that was the main ordeal over before the last task of the Triwizard.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The OWLs followed the NEWTs, and this closely concerned Lilith, who was taking all of those OWLs left except art and quidditch, which she planned to take the following year. Sextus had already done those subjects he considered 'the important ones' so apart from charms and care of domestic beasts he was not going to be involved in the compulsory exams. This left both of them able, as Lilith said, to point and giggle at the rest of the Stripy Marauders as they struggled with the early exams. As most of them were taking ten OWLs, Kazrael taking eleven, and Adam proud of having caught up fast enough to be taking six, this necessitated Lilith undoing a selection of what Gennar sententiously explained were 'revision spells'. This was almost believable, since her ears and eyebrows had been switched, she had been subject to a sufficiency of colour change charms to be patched with rainbow effect, her nose was a turnip and her fingernails were exhorting her to be happy with more or less musical harmony.

Lilith cheerfully undid all the effects and proceeded to lecture them on how they could have improved.

"She's only doing it to annoy, because she knows it teases," Gennar quoted.

The other Stripy Marauders exchanged a look of unholy glee, and Lilith had a little more trouble extracting herself from a sneezing fit caused by summoned pepper than had she been subject merely to a sneezing curse.

"Nice work, you oiks," she said, when she had stopped sneezing.

The Potions OWL was a return to brewing the confusing and befuddling draught and a potion to counter it. Naturally, none of the Stripy Marauders were confused or befuddled over combining the ingredients of a selection of potions, balancing the fwooper down with jobberknoll feathers and remembering to mention this in their notes and to quote Golapott. As Gennar said, when they had been drilled by the oldest actual daughter of the Pre-eminent Potioneer they jolly well ought to know their potions.

The only one of the Stripy Marauders who was poor at transfigurations was Gareth Rookwood, but even before being one of their number he had had the sense to accept help from Lilith, and if his tortoise became a very pedestrian plain box, and his switching charm needed a chanted incantation to work, he succeeded in all the tasks and left the exam room pleased. The rest were fairly solid, and none of them had any excuse to make a mess of the theory with Lilith and Sextus liable to argue transfigurational questions somewhat outside the concept of NEWT, which had then to be broken down for the edification of their fellows.

Charms went well as well; the Stripy Marauders more than any other group had understood the concept that most of the corridor curses they used with gay abandon were charms, and therefore the whole idea of charms must be easy. Which being so, DADA was, even in Adam's estimation, 'a breeze'. They all had corporeal patronuses and they probably knew more about dark creatures than most examiners, though Adam did not accrue any extra marks for listing 'The other parent' in with his list of dark creatures known to him. It made him feel better though.

Care of Domestic Beasts involved grooming a kneazle, and Gennar remarked that it was just as well that Makepeace and McLaggan had joined the rest of sentience or it might have gone hard for them. Michelle Makepeace opened her mouth to say that she had never been a bully, reflected on some of her earlier behaviour, flushed, and shut up. Hubert McLaggan pulled a face and muttered something about it being a fair point. He and Michelle had gravitated towards each other somewhat, having been outsiders, but each now more able to meet the other half way; and he had managed to give her a kindly hug over her hysterics after transfiguration. Michelle's box had managed a respectable turn of speed running on its corners and had bitten the examiner whilst scoffing dandelion leaves and she had managed to explode the bottles whose contents she was switching. McLaggan had been being examined at the same time, and taking pity on her had surreptitiously switched the contents as the bottle shattered so there might be some marks for the unfortunate half elf in a successful, if messy, switch. Taken to task by Madam Marchbanks, who had seen his wandwork, he had said defiantly,

"Well she can do it when she's not under pressure so I didn't see why she shouldn't have some credit. She's flustered because of her wretched tortoise."

As Madam Marchbanks had initially thought he had exploded the bottles, being used to the hearty teasing of other boys of his surname, she looked on him anew and murmured that perhaps her eyesight was faulty and she might have seen awry. It was cheating, but to help out a fellow examinee was a trait to be encouraged in someone of certain tendencies.

Lilith was taking Care of Domestic beasts and Care of Magical Beasts, and groomed her kneazle ruthlessly whilst reducing it to drooling adoration in her arms, because she found the sweet spot on its back before even beginning. She was more than knowledgeable on all forms of flying horse, as were all her set, and she did equally well in handling the separating of knarls from hedgehogs, relocating bowtruckles from a tree scheduled for felling, and subduing a jarvey in the care of Magical Beasts exam. Writing about the habits, features and training of magical hounds was easy enough, as was describing the mating habits of various dragons, and the ways their mating was regulated to avoid upsetting muggles. Sextus, taking only care of Domestic Beasts was happy enough to point and giggle at her for taking both.

She might sit back with Sextus and make rude comments about Gennar, Venus and Adam, taking Ancient Runes. They hexed her to walk like an Egyptian before heading off for Arithmancy, a subject they all treated as a core curriculum study.

Nobody was taking art, and Lilith went to bed for the afternoon to be ready for her astronomy exam. As Lilith was used to using astronomy to a higher level than OWL to use it for potioneering, she wrote too much, and provided the examiner with more detail than was required. She was able to rest the next morning whilst all her fellows took the written component of the chanting exam, and joined Sextus and Jayashree in the afternoon for comparative magic. Here she wrote too much about the perceptions of the fey in different cultures and wandered into demonology. Being of enquiring disposition, she took almost for granted many concepts other people had difficulty with, but fortunately it was only 'almost' and she did not lose marks by making assumptions that there were things she didn't have to mention. She had lost marks in essays for Ellie before now, who had pointed out pithily that knowing something was insufficient; one had to tell the examiner that one knew it, and no, it wasn't common knowledge.

Jayashree was happy, because she had been able to include a lot of Indian customs, and Sextus had written almost as much as Lilith of the dark side of the fey. They debated whether the dark side of the fey reminded them more of Pink Floyd or Darth Vader, and decided to transfigure a rock into Pink Vader and play The Wall very loudly as the nearest thing they could get to Darth Floyd.

Lilith was also taking Divination, and was planning on taking it seriously. She peered into the crystal ball and sat back looking rather upset.

"What's wrong, my dear?" asked Mr. Tofty.

"I … I'm not going to win the Triwizard," blurted out Lilith. "I think I will have something else to do instead. Oh well. I suppose there's always next time," she sighed. "What a nuisance these Russians are!"

"Can you tell me more about what you saw?"

"No, sorry sir, it's rather too nebulous. Just that I had to turn back in a maze. I don't really do visions, only hunches."

"Well, perhaps you will lay the cards for me, if you can collect yourself enough?"

Lilith laid the cards.

"Have you been making bets?" she asked.

"I … well, yes, one or two," admitted Tofty.

"The cards say you're going to win, but it's not going to be straightforward," said Lilith. "And I can't explain that, either; I'm afraid I'm awfully bad at Divination."

"My dear girl! You seem to get more than many, and it's certainly worth your time studying it," said Tofty. His bets had been on the Triwizard's outcome. "As you grow older, you'll gain more experience in interpreting all you see."

Lilith went into the written exam trying not to feel too upset, and wrote sensible answers to all the questions. Then she went and cried all over Sextus, explaining why.

"I dunno, halfpint," said Sextus. "You might very well go back to help someone with interfering Russians, and then still catch up and win. But you would never forgive yourself if you won, and someone else died."

"No," said Lilith. "But I'm being a bit childish over having wanted to show everyone that I can. And I am afraid I won't."

"Well, you put silly visions behind you and just get on with exams and the competition," said Sextus. "They say that most visions are bunk anyway, so this is one of the future possibilities. It doesn't mean it's set in stone unless anyone tries to either stop it happening or goes into it fatalistically."

"Sec, I love you. You are so reasonable," said Lilith, hugging him.

Sextus and Jayashree were together for the enchanting exam next, and Sextus got carried away when writing about wand woods in pointing out that Rowan absorbs magic and is therefore never used as a wand wood, but that if the magic it absorbed were able to be released, rowan wood could serve as a battery or reserve of magic. It was a debate he and Lilith had had, and they planned to experiment.

Lilith was alone of her group taking Geomancy, and she returned NEWT level answers to the written exam, and did what she referred to as fey-skidding along ley lines to arrive back at the castle in a time that was as fast as that of Professor Fraser when he had taken the exam.

Sextus and Kazrael were taking herbology, and Sextus retired in high dudgeon over having been bitten by his fanged geranium which was wilting because he had bitten it back in sheer perversity, and he knew it had cost him the O grade.

Kazrael was taking history of magic with Lilith, and they both wrote earnestly about the goblin wars, among other things. The questions were becoming less biased these days.

Kazrael, Gennar and Sextus were taking Metalworking with Lilith, and they had finished their working pieces over the Easter holidays. The practical was easy, and the theory exam was no more than they were inclined to discuss anyway, although both Sextus and Lilith became too arithmantic over the coefficient of magical expansion.

This was Lilith's last exam, and the last for all the Stripy Marauders except Sextus and Venus, who were taking Music in Magic. The Broomstick Boys blew in again, and Sextus and Venus proceeded to give virtuoso performances that had been coached to NEWT level ability by Lilith, who had also made sure their written was well above par.

OWLs went fairly steadily at Prince Peak as well, with the difference that they did have participants in the art exam, in the persons of Viridian D'Aubert and Sarah Elliot. Kizzie and Beta were taking music, and the only other person taking that exam was in Hogwarts by reason of being Severus Snape's daughter. There were musical and artistic people in Durmstrang, but the probability was that more Europeans would also start picking Prince Peak for children of extraordinary talent.

The Broomstick boys could not examine Kizzie, on grounds of being family, but Lucius agreed to be their deputy.

And it may be recorded that he choked slightly when Kizzie told him that Silvina had taken up metalwork as a hobby for making musical boxes and locks which would only unlock when a particular sequence of notes were whistled or hummed.

"Being a kind of Protean Charm," said Kizzie, brightly. Lucius worked on not blushing over the misuse of protean charms in music.

The only one of the OWL year who was at all worried about the exams was Danica, but Severus had told her that so far as she was concerned, the grades normally asked for pursuit to NEWT would be waived by all the staff, and that if she was so off form as to fail any, she might re-take the following year whilst studying to NEWT level. Danica had received a lot of help in catching up, however, and none of the staff had any expectation that she would do badly.

In Durmstrang, none of the Jade Fag Marauders anticipated poor marks in any of their ten ZPs, and Antoinette Labellette now actually hoped for eight reasonable passes, with perhaps a few at E grade. Sofie had not anticipated getting any kind of vision in her divination exam, and so exclaimed,

"What fun, the crystal ball is working! Oh my, someone has put the stone Durak back together, and … I say! Who is that over-dressed fellow he's talking to? Oh bother, it's gone."

Eve and Zyrillis, hearing of this, put their heads together, and came up with enough clues to assume that the Durak formerly known as Dolokhov had been pieced together and fed Mandragora by a well-wisher, and had defected to the banner of The Sun King, who was no longer green. As Dolokhov was, disappointingly, no longer Pony Boy, it appeared that the potion curing Achille of his colouric fit, as all Marauders put it, was sufficient to cure Pony Boy as well.

"Which unfortunately means that Achille has a loyal follower in the nasty little creep," Eve reported to Severus.

"And all my fault because I wanted Achille distracted from the Russians to go and play with Egyptian puzzles," said Severus. "It may have been a miscalculation to let him have it, but I don't claim to be omniscient."

"Well, I can't think of a lieutenant more likely to louse things up, can you?" said Eve.

Severus gave a mirthless grin.

"Only Krait and me when we were Voldemort's lieutenants, but we were lousing things up on purpose," he said. "A good point, Eve! He now has access to knotwork magic, but we have more flexible exponents of it, so I think we win on points. From Lilith's report, Dolokhov is likely to try something at the Triwizard, so keep your dreams open."

Eve nodded.

"I shall," she promised. "Dear me, Achille wants to kill Pharamond, the Durak wants to kill Aglaia, I should think it might get interesting."

Severus laughed.

"And what a long way you've come to make that comment in all seriousness and not throw a hissy fit about danger."

Eve shrugged.

"I think you get to a point where you just learn to take it as it comes," she said.

The ZPs in Schloss Adler were of more moment to the non humans taking them, for the purpose of being able to carry wands; but it was to be noted that in having had a good three years of study, most of the entrants were taking ZPs not ZAPs. The exception was Martina Balzar, who was taking the ZAP and an extra ZP in Quidditch, since Martina was not the sharpest stick in the bundle. However, she could carry a wand by right, being human, and Severus had, despite reservations, agreed to take her as well as Grelleg and Zaly in his sixth form to take advantage of the coaching of Viktor Krum in their main subject. Grelleg and Zaly would almost certainly carry off honours in two or three other NEWT subjects, but Martina had one chance, and one chance only to shine and that was in being scouted for Quidditch. As this class had already swelled through the years with Sarah, Henik Viridian, Kizzy, and Danica, and would also be taking Ivy Shorg, this would be a class of twenty, unprecedented in size, and if Ortensia Lollini and Vilm gan Kurt had not been expelled, there would have been a major problem in the matter of sleeping arrangements. However, Severus preferred to make sure that those who needed pushing would get what they needed than to worry about logistics. And in other respects, Martina would be a special needs child, and might convert her ZAP to OWLs.

Of Severus' headaches, however, the half dozen candidates at Schloss Adler had no idea, and merely strove to do their best.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Once the exams were out of the way, the Musical Marauders went with Agata and Saxdred to Beauxbatons to set up their maze. Agata did not even bother to suggest the fiction of side-along apparating; her fourth years were more competent at apparating than some of the ministry officials who taught it. If asked she would claim that they had used a portkey, and let anyone prove that they had not. And at that, her youngsters were probably capable of making one. Information of a useful nature seemed to seep through all marauding groups by osmosis.

The youngsters greeted Madame Maxime cheerfully, and set to work. They were too busy to be sociable. They had chosen privet for their main hedging, as it grew faster than yew and could be persuaded to a reasonable height in a few hours. Privet was not a wand wood, being inclined to dampen magical emanations, even though it did not draw them away like rowan.

"And it should discourage anyone from opening gates through it to make short cuts, even if it makes it harder for us to set up our own short cuts," said Beremud, in satisfaction. "This lot are any one of them a match for most previous champions, even Jade would have a run for her money against them."

The others considered this, and decided that she would certainly have her work cut out.

"They could make a lightsabre out of a wand, but that would still take time to hack through," opined Bronislava. "Don't forget the roof."

Hardening the air to prevent flying over the top was a matter of chanting, and though it was unlikely that anyone should cheat, it seemed like a good idea.

"Because if you let it be a possibility, you tacitly say it isn't cheating," said Beryx.

They planted some of their more active surprises with great care, not just the neatly pruned geldings, who had been curried with shears for the purpose, but also such interesting plants as whomping willows, beating birches and hitting hollies.

"Not as vicious as snargaluff, but more of them, and a greater irritation level," said Sigismund in satisfaction. "Now we need the runic clues to open our gate so that the worst of the fiendish forest can be avoided."

They laid in their runes with great care. Sculptures in ogham shapes joined suitable elder futharks in copper hung artistically on hedges. They set the corvus-helmed suit of armour on his greenery steed with a lance in his hand, and laid the other lance beside the other green gelding.

"No beheading games with this green knight," said Zoltan, mournfully.

"Only because we couldn't figure out how to make them non lethal," said Sigismund.

"It is a shame, though," said Bronislava. "Then we could name this suit of armour Bertilac, which is suitable in France, rather than the Corvus-helmed suit of armour."

"We could call him Bertilac anyway," said Sigismund. "I'm sure he won't mind."

The Corvus helmed one dismounted creakily in order to tango Sigismund about the square for jousting.

"He doesn't like it," said Zoltan, giggling at Sigismund's contortions.

"Apparently not," said Sigismund. "My apologies, Sir Knight."

Having set up their maze, the Musical Marauders went in search of butterbeer or anything else the French school could offer them. They settled for rather more milky coffee than they were accustomed too, being used to having it creamy rather than milky. And pain au chocolat was definitely not up to the standard of the kuchen they were used to. However, they consumed politely and privately pitied the French children for having no cuisine as well as not having a very good education. Having been treated to such delicacies as Eton mess, and treacle tart, and cream teas by their English counterparts, it was plainly a deficiency of being French.

"And what is the good of inventing a word like 'cuisine' if you don't have one, I don't know," Lindhard voiced the thoughts of them all when they escaped from the French children.

"And they don't have meat for breakfast," said Sigismund in a hushed voice. "However the Kaiserin has brought sausage."

This intelligence was greeted with great relief.

Agata had arranged for the Musical Marauders to stay with Pharamond's father whilst waiting for the arrival of the contestants. As Pharamond's father knew about Marauding, this was less uncomfortable than it might have been. They waited politely, entertaining M. Duval and his ladies with their musical skills.

Agata returned to Durmstrang to bring her contingent, but as they planned to arrive last, this meant leaving the usual suspects with the exhortation that they were on their honour to behave.

They would at least pulse her the moment all the other schools had arrived.

The Hogwarts contingent arrived first, since David had a thing about punctuality; and Lilith decided that she might as well come along.

The Schloss Adler group was scarcely behind them, followed swiftly by Prince Peak. Hawke Malfoy brought the Russian group which had been somewhat whittled down, but the few who came determinedly supported Aglaia.

The Free School was next, and Hellibores turned up in a rather straggly fashion. Somehow it was par for the course.

And then the formation of brooms appeared just outside the anti-apparating zone, and Zyrillis led in his supporters singing their new song. David's eyebrows went up.

"Recycling the Panzer leide? Interesting," he murmured to himself. "A few years ago that would have been a political message, I suppose I should be pleased that now it's just exhuberance."

"Beats the Hogwarts school song," said Zajala. "Oy, Lilith, you're a musical oik, write us something suitable."

"At your command, oh glorious one," said Lilith.

"She's in one of those moods," said Nigel.

"I'm going to lose this, and I'm trying to be insoucient about it," retorted Lilith.

"Lose, nonsense," said Zajala. "If I wasn't competing against you I'd be rooting for you. I won't have time to because I'll be watching you stroll away from me."

"It's a bit … oh it's a divination thing," said Lilith.

"Yes, but as I understand it, that wasn't the only interpretation put on what you said to the examiner," said Adam. "I wish you'd said earlier, you … you poor prune, I heard him saying that his bets on you were probably safe and that you'd rescue the dragon from the princess and save the universe and still go on to win. Well, he didn't put it in those words."

"No, I'd have worried about his sanity if he had," said Lilith, rudely.

Adam poked her. It usually worked. And if she was being rude it meant she had stopped brooding. Now he knew what had been eating her, he felt he could handle it.

Madam Maxime as hostess read out the accumulated points again. Zyrillis was at the top of the leader board with 122; Lilith scarcely behind him on 120 and Biirta right on her tail with 117. Aglaia with 113 was closer to Zyrillis than many a second contestant in previous competitions, and Yrdl right behind her on 110. Zajala was on 92, Pharamond on 81, Riker on 65, but bubbling to be above Sardo, on 58. The time difference was already set to be the seconds delay before entering the maze, and much would depend on the tasks within it.

The entrance to the maze had a gateway familiar to any historian of muggle German history, because the Musical Marauders had a warped sense of humour and also wanted to keep some things alive. It had in wrought iron lettering the legend, "Gartenarbeit macht frei", 'Garden-work makes free'. One might assume that a knowledge of herbolgy might not come amiss.

"Do you know how their warped little minds work, Zyrillis?" asked Lilith.

"I try not to," said Zyrillis. "I know that it will be fiendish, tortuous and will probably involve runes. And possibly pattern magic and aggressive topiary."

"Should be interesting," said Lilith, perking up at the idea of aggressive topiary. Had Vernon Dursley still been alive, that might have been amusing … no, it was muggle baiting. What a shame! Just as well he was dead.

"There isn't a riddle," said Agata Bacso, as representative for setting this task. "The maze is a riddle enough, and I wish you joy of it. The talented guerilla gardeners of mine who set it were giggling."

"I was afraid of that," said Zyrillis, gloomily.

The whistle went; and Zyrillis strode forward, passing through the gate as Lilith was also whistled to go. He yelped as the pansies he stood on carelessly without noticing their pattern apported him somewhere else. The pansies were shifting as Lilith walked in.

"How neat, a random direction set distance effect," she said as she disappeared. Biirta followed, resigning herself to a most unpleasant feeling, and discovering that it was not as bad as she feared. The others followed in their due periods and Yrdl was the first to discover that they had been placed at four points of the compass and that Zyrillis was battling his way through aggressive holly trees ahead of her. He had transfigured his robes into armour, which seemed a sensible precaution.

Zajala was not enlightened as to this occurance for a while since when she arrived at her destination the holly bushes ahead of her were quite quiescent. In fact, they were as immobile as if they were frozen, which, she soon found, they actually were. This had to be Lilith getting creative as Zajala noticed some of the branches at the back futilely lashing towards her.

Pharamond was sufficiently far behind Biirta to have to meet hitting holly for himself; Biirta had chanted at hers while she went through, but it was a temporary measure, and when she stopped chanting, the bushes began flailing again. Pharamond assumed he was on his own in a separate part of the maze. He, too, fell back on chanting.

Riker was puzzled over how to deal with the holly. He had no idea how to subdue it and did not think of transfiguring his clothes. He fell back on the use of ley lines, and used _diffindo_ to cut through the privet, with intent of bypassing the aggressive trees.

Sardo fetched up at the same spot as Zyrillis and Yrdl, both of whom were long gone. Yrdl had taken the short cut of confusing the holly with runes drawn in the air, combatting their action, assertion and objectivity with Muin, the vine, representing introspection, relaxation and depth. She might have chosen other ways to go about it, but it made the holly waver enough to march determinedly through, with the concept of vine in her head in case she needed to actually grow one to strangle the holly.

"Gardening Makes Free, indeed," Yrdl muttered. Sardo, almost a minute behind her smooth passage, in which she caught up to Zyrillis, was as confused as Riker over dealing with aggressive plants, but less phlegmatic in lateral thinking. He tried using _diffindo_ on the holly itself. This was a mistake as it made the aggressive plant even more aggressive.

Zyrillis and Yrdl had got to a place where there were several ways off, and odd statues of runic nature. They looked at one another, laughed, and walked through the same piece of hedge without pause, whereupon they met up with Lilith coming from another direction, and Biirta emerged scarcely a moment later.

And then Aglaia screamed in real terror, and all the front runners felt her real horror.

None of them supposed for a moment that this horror was anything to do with the maze and Lilith smoothly linked minds and linked with Aglaia, who was facing what Lilith later described as Nyarlathotep but with fewer redeeming features.

To a man they went through the fourth point of the compass with enough rune power to reverse the startled gate, and threw power at Aglaia. Lilith was probably the most accomplished user of ancient Egyptian and she began a chant of banishing, leaving the others to deal with the figures following the stinking headed creature through the gate behind it. The stinking head reminded Lilith of all the legends she had read, and her chant might be loosely translated as "begone, Set, the chaos bringer, the destroyer, the stinking head, begone and be torn into fourteen pieces even as was Osiris, Wennenefer the mighty the ruler of the twin lands." Lilith was probably more knowledgeable about demonology than anyone besides her father, her sister Jade, and her Uncle Lucius, and she danced as she pronounced the spell, surrounding all her group with a protective circle drawn with her feet in the very substance of fey space.

It made the stinking head draw back, and as she repeated her chant the fourteenth time, he crumpled in on himself with a despairing wail and disappeared, as Zyrillis put it, up his own backside.

The mixed Russian and French contingent were quickly dealt with, and Lilith observed Dolokhov, who had come in person, critically.

"You got over being Pony Boy, I see," she said. "Well, you were an affront to horses. So, you like Achille's research into things Egyptian, do you?"

" _Damn_ you," said Dolokhov, who was disarmed, bound and rather herbacious. Following the theme, one of the others had gone for growing nettles and thistles on their captives.

"I think that's what happened to your raised demon, actually," said Lilith, critically. "If you must force a form onto a demon, you really need to make sure nobody it might go against understands the nature of the form, you know. It's as much a weakness as a strength."

"Really, Lils, must you tell him how to do it better?" complained Biirta, who had followed more of Lilith's complex banishing than most. Zyrillis knew that Zlatko would have been able to add to it.

"Right is right," Lilith insisted. "I do so hate sloppy workmanship."

"Well, agreed, but …"

"Dolokhov hasn't the willpower to raise his own demon," said Aglaia. "He couldn't even work out the simple knotwork ritual to pass over himself to get rid of being Pony Boy. And if I could do it, and being new to knotwork, that argues a serious lack."

"If you knew how why didn't you do it after the first task?" howeled Dolokhov.

"Because I like horses and I don't like you, of course," said Aglaia. "I've had my solution passed, and written up for my exam in ritual. What do we do with them now?"

"Can't leave 'em here. Topiary will come and piss on them. Ain't fair on the topiary," misquoted Lilith.

"All very well halfpint, but what ARE we going to do with them?" asked Zyrillis.

"Drive them ahead of us to spring any traps the kids set," said Lilith.

This was voted a good idea.

The traps, being purely vegetable, caught out all the captives, who would have considered herbology beneath attack wizards until the herbology fought back. They had to be rescued from devils' snare and the ones who succumbed to the soporific spores of yawning toadstools were brought along with _levicorpus._ The way to the centre was guarded by snargaluff.

"Tempting as it is to feed them to snargaluff, I think they'd give them indigestion," said Yrdl. "Shall we all move through tying them off as we go?"

This was voted the best plan, and five of them strolled into the jousting ground, with their captives dragged behind them on invisible strings of pure energy.

"Hmm, first one here has to joust, I suppose," said Zyrillis. "And only one other horse here to ride."

"You and Yrdl were ahead by a second I suppose," said Lilith, to Zyrillis.

"And you knew how to handle Pharocious," said Zyrillis. "I say, let's all go out together. There's nothing to pick between any of us top five if you ask me. And the kids would be well served if we put their knight and his horse to sleep with music."

"Do you know the tune?" asked Lilith.

"No, but I wager you do, and the rest of us are good enough on runes to back up your music with sleep-inducing and hypnotic runes in mid air," said Zyrillis.

"Yes, and not make the same mistake I did in the first task," said Aglaia. "Come on, then, let's do it. I want the Durak back in custody of someone who isn't going to lose him."

And so they did.

The corvus-helmed suit of armour slid sideways from his horse in a kind of slumber, and Lilith kindly eased him down to the ground as the horses leaned against convenient bits of shrub.

And the gate behind the knight was a portkey, which as they all had their arms about each other, took them all back to the start.

"Oh bother, our prisoners got left behind," said Lilith.

"We're going in now to collect them," said David, grimly, apporting directly to the centre of the non apparating zone to do so.

It may be said that he did not bring them out, but took them directly to Azhkaban to await trial under English law, since Aglaia was an English witch who had been attacked. David was very pleased with himself for remembering that in the heat of the moment!


	17. Chapter 17

**Epilogue.**

"It ees quite unprecedented!" declared Madame Maxime.

"So's attacking students during a competition," said Zyrillis.

"Anyway, we had such a good bunch this time, there was nothing much between the top contestants," said Zajala, who had been removed from the maze along with Pharamond, Riker and Sardo. Sardo had still been trying to get through the holly, Riker resembled a privet hedge himself where he had collected a lot of greenery, and Zajala and Pharamond had met at the place the rune gates took them to. Riker had not been far behind, but it all became academic.

"I'd say all the competitors were close enough to feel proud of having competed," said Zyrillis. "Closest it's ever been, I reckon, even with more contestants than usual."

"We Hellibores boys aren't in anything like your class," said Sardo.

"So more kudos to you for soldiering on against things your education hasn't prepared you for," said Zyrillis.

The judges had little option but to award the win to all five who had arrived together.

"And I bet they're glad we didn't land with … what did you call him? Pharocious? Good name," said Lilith. "I vote we celebrate by sending a ritual sending after Achille."

"Is it wise to tip him off that we're wise to him?" asked Zyrillis.

"No, but he won't realise it's us," said Lilith.

"We," said Biirta.

"I'm a witch, not a grammar nazi," said Lilith. "I'm only a grammar nazi when it involves other languages that need accuracy. But he won't realise it is we, us, or even a bunch of schoolchildren."

"He'll think it's your father, I expect," said Yrdl. "Or Professor Fraser."

"Or a selection of the heads of the schools working in concert," said Zyrillis, "which isn't impossible."

"All right, so what are we going to do?" asked Aglaia. "I'm not used to ritual sendings."

"Really we ought to drop him in the Nile," said Lilith. "It's time he was annihilated."

She walked like an Egyptian briefly for that, and had to retrieve her ears, and return them to their natural state, instead of being faience, for that terrible pun.

They decided to innundate him like the cataracts of Elephantine with plagues of frogs to go with it. It would rain on Achille for nine days, and only on Achille, with random frogs in the rain. They involved the four who had not won the Triwizard as well, and Pharamond was able to add to the chant.

And then they all returned to their respective schools for the end of term. And each contestant was cheered by their respective schoolfellows, and enjoyed the feast that marked the end of another school year.


End file.
